Coordinator
Prof. Dr. Klaus Gerwert
Biophysik
Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
Phone: 0234/32-24461
E-Mail: gerwert@bph.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Funded since 2004
Link
Proteins in action
Collaborative Research Centre (SFB ) 642: GTP- and AT P-dependent membrane processes
Due to specific proteins biological membranes are no obstacles for the communication of cells. Membrane proteins transmit signals and substances from the cell‘s outside to the inside. These processes are mainly controlled by the nucleotides (DNA components) GTP and ATP. Hence, for example, GTP-dependent processes control cell division, while ATP is often involved in transporting ions or small molecules through the membranes. As mutations in proteins can disturb these vital processes and thus trigger diseases like cancer, it is of great medical relevance to understand the GTP- and ATP-dependent processes.
In the SFB “GTP- and ATP-dependent membrane processes” researchers of the Ruhr-University and their colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology Dortmund analyse these processes from the molecular basis to cell biological models. There is also a regular exchange in the postgraduate programme between both institutions in the International Max Planck School in Chemical Biology (IMPRS, coordination: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology).
In this cooperation all the scientists can make use of the RUB protein centre with its state-of-the-art equipment, e.g. in spectroscopy, and its cooperative network. With proteomic methods the scientists identify the active proteins of a cell and afterwards their three-dimensional structure (structural genomics). New methodical approaches and a highly sensitive laboratory technology make it possible to observe proteins at work.
