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Lamins are nucleoskeletal proteins forming a scaffold structure at the nuclear envelope of all metazoan cells, termed the nuclear lamina. They determine mechanical properties of the nucleus and regulate spatial chromatin organization by anchoring heterochromatin to the nuclear periphery. Over 400 mutations in the LMNA gene have been identified that cause various rare diseases, including muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, lipodystrophy and premature aging. We try to understand the molecular functions of lamins in mechanosignaling and chromatin regulation at mechanistic level. This will allow us to elucidate the roles of lamins in adult stem cell regulation and tissue homeostasis and to discover lamin-linked defects during aging. We also aim at a better understanding of molecular disease mechanisms in lamin-linked diseases to foster the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic tools for patient treatment.
We study lamin functions in health and disease using a curiosity driven research strategy. We apply a wide range of molecular biological and biochemical approaches, including high-end light microscopy, gene targeting and protein-protein and protein-DNA interaction analyses as well as genome- and proteome-wide techniques. These studies provide mechanistic insight into lamin-mediated pathways and their dynamic regulation during cell proliferation and differentiation. We also generate and use cellular and animal models to understand the downstream consequences of lamin dysfunction in aging and disease and to identify the contributions of impaired lamin functions to pathologies in lamin-linked diseases at cellular, tissue and organismal level.
Roland Foisner received his PhD (Dr. techn.) in Biotechnology at the TU Vienna, Austria. He moved to the USA in 1991 working as postdoctoral fellow at Scripps, La Jolla, CA, and started his own lab in 1993 at the (Medical) University Vienna. He became Full Professor in 2002 and served as Deputy Head of MFPL from 2007 to 2017. Roland Foisner is founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Nucleus.
LMNA mutations cause progeria, a severe disease with features of accelerating aging in multiple tissues, including cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis. We show that vascular endothelial cells in progeria cannot cope with blood flow-mediated shear stress and upregulate pro-fibrotic mechanosignaling pathways, causing fibrosis, vessel stiffening and heart problems.
While the attachment of heterochromatin to the peripheral lamina is well known, we found that, in addition, lamins bind to open, active chromatin regions inside the nucleus. This novel and dynamic lamin-chromatin interaction increases chromatin accessibility and regulates epigenetic pathways thereby contributing to differentiation-specific gene expression.
In addition to their peripheral localization, lamins are found in a dynamic pool in the nuclear interior. We identified the lamin-binding protein,LAP2alpha,as a cell cycle-dependent regulator of the dynamic lamin pool. Depletion of LAP2alpha leads to loss of nucleoplasmic lamins and impairment of adult stem cell regulation.
Impaired cell proliferation is a hallmark of premature aging disease and normal aging. We found that this is accompanied by loss of the nucleoplasmic lamin-LAP2alpha complexes. Re-expression of LAP2alpha in aged cells is sufficient to rescue proliferation defects, likely by inducing collagen expression. Our studies reveal potential new treatment strategies for age-linked diseases.
Endothelial progerin expression causes cardiovascular pathology through an impaired mechanoresponse.
Osmanagic-Myers, Selma; Kiss, Attila; Manakanatas, Christina; Hamza, Ouafa; Sedlmayer, Franziska; Szabo, Petra L; Fischer, Irmgard; Fichtinger, Petra; Podesser, Bruno K; Eriksson, Maria; Foisner, Roland
Lamins in the nuclear interior - life outside the lamina.
Naetar, Nana; Ferraioli, Simona; Foisner, Roland
A-type lamins bind both hetero- and euchromatin, the latter being regulated by lamina-associated polypeptide 2 alpha.
Gesson, Kevin; Rescheneder, Philipp; Skoruppa, Michael P; von Haeseler, Arndt; Dechat, Thomas; Foisner, Roland
Proliferation of progeria cells is enhanced by lamina-associated polypeptide 2α (LAP2α) through expression of extracellular matrix proteins
Vidak, Sandra, Kubben, Nard, Dechat, Thomas and Roland Foisner
Loss of LAP2 alpha delays satellite cell differentiation and affects postnatal fiber-type determination.
Gotic, Ivana; Schmidt, Wolfgang M; Biadasiewicz, Katarzyna; Leschnik, Michael; Spilka, Rita; Braun, Juliane; Stewart, Colin L; Foisner, Roland
Project title: “Chromatin organization by lamina-independent lamins" (P 26492-B20)
Contribution of endothelial cell dysfunction to cardiovascular disease in progeria (PRF 2016-64)
The Group Foisner is a member of the special Doctoral Program "Signaling Mechanisms in Cellular Homeostasis" reviewed and funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF.
Decoding the cis-regulatory information of enhancer sequences
Speaker: Bernardo AlmeidaInstitute: IMP - Stark Lab
From planarians to parasites: unexpected roles for monoamine transmitters
Speaker: Phil NewmarkInstitute: University of Wisconsin-MadisonHost: Elly Tanaka
Title to be announced
Speaker: Jim NaismithInstitute: The Rosalind Franklin Institute, OxfordshireHost: David Haselbach
The Birth and Death of Macromolecular Complexes in Eukaryotic Evolution
Speaker: Berend SnelInstitute: Utrecht UniversityHost: Fred Berger
Probing chromosome mechanics in the interphase nucleus
Speaker: Antoine CoulonInstitute: Institut CurieHost: Anton Goloborodko and Daniel Gerlich
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: JONASSON Mattias (Tanaka), HOHMANN Ulrich (Brennecke/Plaschka), MANOLOVA Toni (Falk)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
The Earth BioGenome Project: Progress Toward a New Synthesis in Evolution Science
Speaker: Harris LewinInstitute: UC DavisHost: Darrin Schultz and Oleg Simakov
Is cohesin necessary for transcription? Molecular entities of transcriptional dysregulation in the absence of cohesin revealed by analysis of transcription elongation complexes
Speaker: Katsuhiko ShirahigeInstitute: Karolinska InstituteHost: Franz Klein
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: WU Shuangyang (Dolan), SCARAMUZZA Federico (Tessmar), KROGULL Daniel (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
The recently discovered ties between teeth and infants in human evolution
Speaker: Leslea HluskoInstitute: CENIEHHost: Nicole Grunstra
Characterisation of Vpr1, a novel protein involved in DSB repair
Speaker: Mustafa AlaaboInstitute: Dept. Chromosome Biology, Univ. ViennaHost: Franz Klein
Title to be announced
Speaker: Roberto CerbinoInstitute: University of ViennaHost: Arthur Sedivy
Marine symbioses fueled by wood
Speaker: Dan DistelInstitute: Ocean Genome Legacy CenterHost: Jillian Petersen
New insights in gene regulation and chromatin folding by enhancers and cohesin
Speaker: Wouter de LaatInstitute: Hubrecht InstituteHost: Christa Bücker
Molecular mechanism analysis involved in mitochondrial sheath formation and spermiation processes using gene-manipulated mice
Speaker: Keisuke ShimadaInstitute: Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka UniversityHost: Andrea Pauli
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: JELENIC Stela (Saha), ABDRAKHMANOV Alibek (Dagdas), GALUSKA Philipp (Djinovic)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Christoph KreutzInstitute: University of InnsbruckHost: Georg Kontaxis
Microbial trait-based scaling from single populations to communities with consequences for ecosystem processes
Speaker: Ashish MalikInstitute: University of AberdeenHost: Andreas Richter
How chromosome architecture shapes brain architecture
Speaker: Daniele CanzioInstitute: UCSFHost: Anton Goloborodko
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: MAYER Rupert (Proteomics Tech Hub), WILLIAMS Thomas (Clausen), GEISMANN Maximilian (Balzarotti)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Comprehensive and quantitative characterization of aneuploidy phenotypes
Speaker: Manuela Sophie KollerInstitute: Dept. Chromosome Biology, Univ. ViennaHost: Chris Campbell
Cellular crosstalk in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Speaker: Silvia CappelloInstitute: MPI of Psychiatry MunichHost: Jürgen Knoblich
Top down and bottom up exploration of human gut microbial communities
Speaker: Karoline FaustInstitute: KU LeuvenHost: Lucia Fuchslueger
Title to be announced
Speaker: Chris OostenbrinkInstitute: BOKU WienHost: Kristina Djinovic-Carugo
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PACHECO FIALLOS Franics Belen (Plaschka), FONTES OLIVEIRA Tiago Manuel (Penninger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
The Mirage of Biosocial Complexity: Critique and Collaboration Around the Tools of Epigenetics
Speaker: Luca ChiapperinoInstitute: Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), University of LausanneHost: Vienna Open Lab
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KHALDIEH Nina (Ameres), LORENZO ORTS Laura (Pauli), ROSS James (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Samer HattarInstitute: NIHHost: Kristin Tessmar
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RAFFL Gerald (Ameres), SAJTOS Bettina (Zuber), LANGER Christoph (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Anshul KundajeInstitute: Stanford UniversityHost: Alex Stark
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: STEINACKER Thomas (Gerlich), EDER Stephanie (Zimmer), TIKANOVA Polina (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SCHELLHAAS Ulla (Plaschka/Ameres), RUSCH Emma (Goloborodko), VULIN Milica (Obenauf)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RADHAKRISHNA PILLAI Balashankar (Saha), MIGOTTI Mario (Konrat), RÖHNSER Josef (Pauli)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BELL Caelan (Gerlich), MEREITER Stefan (Penninger), BINDL Michael (Leeb)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LORBEER Franziska (Stark), MULVEY Hugh (Dolan), PÜHRINGER Florian (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HOLZER Elisabeth (Martens), COLOZZA Gabriele (Koo), FALCON CHAVEZ Francisco (Tanaka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BLAHA Andreas (Pauli), OKUN Anastasia (Karagöz), JUNG Pauline (Obenauf)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Sir Philip CohenInstitute: University of DundeeHost: Egon Ogris
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LICHT-MAYER Simon (Penninger), CAYGILL Samuel (Dolan), ADELMANN Leonie (Raible)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Feng ShaoInstitute: National Institute of Biological Sciences, BeijingHost: Pavel Kovarik
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SHUNMUGAM Dhanlakshmi (Baccarini), CECI GINISTRELLI Lavinia (Mendjan), VORLÄNDER Matthias (Plaschka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Jan LöweInstitute: MRC Laboratory of Molecular BiologyHost: Jan-Michael Peters
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KOK Jian Yi (Berger), GROH Roan (Dagdas), SODERHOLM Adrian (Versteeg)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Stephan GruberInstitute: University of LausanneHost: Franz Klein
Title to be announced
Speaker: Lydia FinleyInstitute: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterHost: Johannes Zuber
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: STRAVS Ana (Knoblich), SANCHEZ DE MEDINA HERNANDEZ Victor (Dagdas), HORENKAMP Simone (Tanaka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PROTELL I DE MONTSERRAT Julia (Brennecke/Plaschka), NAGUMO WONG Sakurako (Knoblich), CORIC Aida (Tessmar)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Nancy KlecknerInstitute: Harvard UniversityHost: Franz Klein
Title to be announced
Speaker: Vera Gorbunova and Andrei SeluanovInstitute: University of RochesterHost: EDI group at GMI/IMBA/IMP
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GRABARCZYK Daniel (Clausen), TAVERINI Katherina (Urban), MANCHENO JUNCOSA Estela (Mendjan)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Edward LemkeInstitute: IMB MainzHost: David Haselbach
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ATTRILL Sarah (Dolan), UIJTTEWAAL Esther (Elling), SCIBISZ Grzegorz (Karagöz)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: DOLESCHALL Balint (Knoblich), FENG Sonjie (Bücker), BOURGUET Pierre (Berger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Rotem SorekInstitute: Weizmann Institute of Science, RehovotHost: Julius Brennecke
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KRUMWIEDE Luisa (Gaidt), CASEY Chloe (Dolan), KAPRAL Thomas (Zagrovic)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KOBAKHIDZE George (Dong), ANGELOPOULOU Eleni (Ellis), PACHANO Tomas (Stark)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Stephan GrillInstitute: MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and GeneticsHost: Clemens Plaschka
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RAMIREZ America (Köhler), VÖLKL Isabella (Bücker), HOANG Oi Pui (Technau)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Mounia LaghaInstitute: Institut de Genetique Moleculaire de MontpellierHost: Andrea Pauli
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LEITNER Moritz (Martinez), VOGEL Alexander (Yudushkin), KETTEL Paulina (Karagöz)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Martin HetzerInstitute: IST AustriaHost: Jürgen Knoblich
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: TSAREV Aleksandr (Ameres), FIESELER Charlie (Zimmer), ABESAMIS Kim Ivan (Dong)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Laurent NguyenInstitute: University of LiegeHost: Noelia Urban
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HEIDARI KHOEI Heidar (Rivron), KLEIFELD Justus (Urban), ORLIC Lucija (Matos)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Ian HicksonInstitute: University of CopenhagenHost: Joao Matos
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SHULKINA Alexandra (Versteeg), GEETHA Sowmya (Jantsch), MADHUSUDHANAN Jalaja (Zimmer)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KOLLER Manuela (Campbell), GUPTA Ankit (Goloborodko), SCHMÖLLERL Johannes (Zuber)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: MARCHIORI Elisa (Van der Veeken), ACHLEITNER Anja (Martens), FAAS Victoria (Clausen)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SALEWSKIJ Kirill (Penninger), KIRCHGATTERER Paul (Gaidt), REN Kaike (Otsuka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: MIHAILOVIC Milica (Karagöz), BELL Lillie (Clausen), TELONI Federico (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: STANKUNAS Edvinas (Köhler), CASEY Alexandra (Dolan), LEV Itamar (Zimmer)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: OBERHUEMER Michael (Leeb), GONAZLEZ ALVARADO Maria (Grade), SCHOLZ Julia (Otsuka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: AMANN Sascha (Haselbach), KASHKO Nataliia (Matos), BAUER Bernd (Martens)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LEE Joonsun (Elling), LEYVA GONZALEZ Marco (Tanaka), MILIVOJEV Nadja (Raible)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GAO Peng (Dagdas), GOGOVA Rebeca (Clausen), PAVLOVA Anzhela (Matos)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: AYALA MUNOZ Farja (Plaschka), VETRANO Pamela (Ramundo), YU Changwei (Brennecke)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KONSTANTINOU Andri (Obenauf), NAVA GARCIA Marintia (Dagdas), WOLFF Uyen Le Phuong (Jantsch V.)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HARTMANN Felix (Matos), PASSERA Alessandro (Balzarotti), SANCHEZ BURGOS Laura (Obenauf)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HODAKOVA Zuzana (Haselbach), MYLARSHCHIKOV Dmitry (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Johannes WalterInstitute: Harvard Medical SchoolHost: Jan-Michael Peters
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PIECH Lucas (Leonard), DE LA CONCEPCION Juan Carlos (Dagdas), POPOVA Mariia (Peters)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GALLI Lucrezia (Tanaka), DIAS Ana Beatriz (Slade), TAKACS Zsuzsanna (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KNIEST Judith (Haselbach), KELLNER Max (Penninger), BABADEI Olga (Decker)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BOHAUMILITZKY Lena (Pinheiro), RAIDERS Stephan (Tanaka), PRLESI Ines (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PITASI Mattia (Leeb), HEINZL Monika (Stark)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: VELETI Lalitha (Pauli), NAAS Julia (Van Haeseler)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: FARAWAY Rupert (Plaschka), GRUNDMANN Lorenz (Haselbach), KLEINWAECHTER Ava (Slade)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RÖTZER Johannes (Dolan), MIOCIC-STOSIC Fran (Zagrovic), RITSCHKA Birgit (Tanaka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PUSHPA BOSE Greeshma (Urban), RAINA Shiviya (Dammermann)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: COUTURIER Jeanne (Jachowicz), PABST Gabriel (Zuber), ROFFAY Chloe (Pinheiro)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RUSSETT Colleen (Berger), NAJM Ramsey (Knoblich), HOLLAUS David (Gaidt)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SHARMA Sanskriti (Ellis), JANKOWSKA Julia (Ameres), PAPAREDDY Ranjith (Dagdas)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: MAURER Eric (Peters), BHARDWAJ Vishakha (Schlögelhofer), DIEZMA Laura (Nordborg/Mari-Ordonez)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GUZMAN PEREZ Sebastian (Martinez), LITTLEBOY Jamie (Knoblich), RIABOV Daria (Plaschka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ZEILER Christina (Kovarik), DOCAVO GARCIA Antonio (Jachowicz), Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ZMAJKOVIC Jakub (Zuber), DEL CHIARO Alessia (Dagdas), ANTONIOLI Sumire (Leonard)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HUETTER Christiane (Menche), KRACHT Laura (Knoblich), SANDRU Ana Maria (Baccarini)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BENEDUM Johannes (Slade), KALIS Robert (Zuber), PATEL Rajvi (Matos)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PROTSENKO Liudmila (Brennecke), SHETTY Kavya (Hein), BASSAT Elad (Tanaka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs