RESEARCH AREA B
Structural Biology
Inflammatory processes are provoked by a variety of inductors (potentially harmful exogenous and endogenous noxae). Among these are, in the first place, bacteria and viruses or components of these as well as allergens, but also host molecules such as collagens that have been modified by degenerative processes. The interaction of these inductors with receptors on the surface or inside immuno-competent cells of the host as well as autoimmune reactions lead to cell activation.
For the understanding of these activation processes, the knowledge of the chemical and physical structures of the reaction partners involved is of utmost importance. This comprises the isolation or preparation of pure inductors as well as the elucidation of their primary and tertiary structures, and the characterization of even more complex aggregates. With respect to the host, the elucidation of receptor structures and the molecular mechanisms of ligand-receptor interactions are in the focus of interest. Furthermore, the structures of receptors involved in the recruitment of inflammation-mediating cells are being investigated.
Spotlight on facilities: X-ray crystallography: 2 in-house X-ray generators with diffractometers, crystallization robots, crystal imaging systems, synchrotron beamline at DESY, Hamburg, sample preparation laboratory at DESY; NMR spectroscopy: 700 MHz, 600 MHz, 500 MHz spectrometers; mass spectrometry; small-angle X-ray scattering; scanning force microscopy; cryo electron microscopy
Participating institutions: Universities of Lübeck and Kiel, Research Center Borstel
Spotlight on people: Several young professors and post-doctoral investigators in conjunction with other Research Areas of the Cluster or the Lübeck Graduate School "Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences"
Coordinators:
Rolf Hilgenfeld, (Biochemistry & Structural Biology)University Lübeck
Phone: +49 451 5004060, E-Mail: Rolf Hilgenfeld
Ulrich Zähringer, (Structural Biochemistry) Research Center Borstel
Phone: +49 4537 188462, E-Mail: Ulrich Zähringer
Junior Research Group I-b: Neuroinflammation
The role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Parkinson's disease, will be investigated in cell biological models. The focus will be on the role of different forms of the alpha-Synuclein protein which accumulates in brain of Parkinson patients.
Coordinator:
Günther Deuschl, University Kiel
Phone: +49 431 5978500, E-Mail: Deuschl
