MPI Dortmund

Packing DNA on time for cell division

Packing 🧬DNA on time for cell division
Trans-European research team discovers how a molecular switch controls DNA packing on time for cell division

Read the story ▶️ www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/packing...

Your PhD journey starts NOW! Join our #webinar on Sept 4 (1-3 PM CEST) to explore #PhD opportunities at Max Planck's #PhDprograms in NRW, Germany! 🇩🇪
Gain insights into groundbreaking research & register here: events.gwdg.de/e/PhDatMaxPl...
#IMPRS #MaxPlanck #Research #Germany #Science

SARCOMERES divide! Mechanism how muscles grow while contracting - daughter sarcomeres appear everywhere. Seen live, registered on our cover. Pioneered by @clementrodier.bsky.social @friedrich-group.bsky.social Ian Estabrook @ibdm.bsky.social $ by @hfspo.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Condensin II activation by M18BP1 Condensin I and II promote the drastic spatial rearrangement of the human genome upon mitotic entry. While condensin II is known to initiate this proc…

Condensin II activation by M18BP1 - published by @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social Lab & @alessandrovannini.bsky.social @humantechnopole.bsky.social & Rowland Lab @nkinl.bsky.social in molecular @cellpress.bsky.social

congrats to @duccioconti.bsky.social et al.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Arp2/3-complex regulation – Novel insights and open questions Arp2/3 complex is a central actin filament generator driving numerous motile processes in cells. It was originally isolated from Acanthamoeba approx. …

Arp2/3-complex regulation – Novel insights and open questions - published by Peter Bieling, Micaela Boiero Sanders and Theresia Stradal in Curr Opin Cell Biol.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I have an open postdoc position in my group at @mpi-dortmund.bsky.social @maxplanck.de!

If you are passionate about structural biology and/or membrane proteins, apply today!

The position is initially funded for two years, starting from this October. Deadline for application is on July 15th.

The MtL Lecture Series continues with talks by Marcus Müller from @uni-goettingen.de‬, Andrea Musacchio from @mpi-dortmund.bsky.social & @unidue.bsky.social‬, and David Zwicker from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization.
Register now on our website!

Interplay of kinetochores and catalysts drives rapid assembly of the mitotic checkpoint complex - Nature Communications The spindle assembly checkpoint protects cells from chromosome missegregation. Here, the authors use sophisticated biochemical reconstitutions to address how kinetochores, the microtubule-binding stru...

🚨Paper alert🚨
Interplay of kinetochores and catalysts drives rapid assembly of the mitotic checkpoint complex - published by the @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social Group in @natcomms.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With great sadness and deep regret, we have to inform you that our department director and highly esteemed colleague Philippe Bastiaens @maxplanck.de passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 15th of May.

Promising Parkinson's drug decoded

There are currently high hopes for the development of novel Parkinson's drugs. Malte Gersch & his team have now deciphered the mode of action of these drugs. The findings can help to develop innovative therapeutics for Prakinson's disease & other disorders.
www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/promisi...

Chimeric deubiquitinase engineering reveals structural basis for specific inhibition of the mitophagy regulator USP30 - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Kazi et al. report the crystal structure of the mitochondrial deubiquitinase USP, a clinical stage Parkinson’s disease drug target, in complex with a specific inhibitor. The authors delineate a framework for specific deubiquitinase inhibition.

New Parkinson’s disease paper:
Chimeric deubiquitinase engineering reveals structural basis for specific inhibition of USP30 and a framework for DUB ligandability - published by Malte Gersch group in Nature Struct. & Mol. Biol.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats to our @crc1430.bsky.social member @vcmentowski.bsky.social on defending her PhD in the @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social Lab! 🎓👏 A remarkable achievement that showcases her dedication and hard work. We’re excited for her future successes! 🎉 #PhDDefense #ResearchExcellence #AcademicAchievement"

An Indole Dearomatization Strategy for the Synthesis of Pseudo‐Natural Products The indole moiety is a privileged fragment that frequently populates existing bioactive compound collections. We describe the development of an indole-dearomatization sequence and its application for....

New Publication by the @waldido.bsky.social Group:
An Indole Dearomatization Strategy for the Synthesis of Pseudo-Natural Products - Published in ChemBioChem

chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Congrats for a fantastic defense and your even more fantastic achievements @vcmentowski.bsky.social

We congratulate Max Haase, #Postdoc in the @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social group , on receiving the highly-coveted Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the @ec.europa.eu Commission

The biochemical mechanism of Rho GTPase membrane binding, activation and retention in activity patterning | The EMBO Journal imageimageFormation of Rho GTPase activity patterns on the plasma membrane is key to numerous morphogenic processes in eukaryotic cells. This study employs a reconstitution approach to reveal the bioc...

🚨Paper alert🚨 The biochemical mechanism of Rho GTPase membrane binding, activation and retention in activity patterning - Published in @embojournal.org by the Peter Bieling Group & William Bement Group & Scott Hansen Group

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Paper Alert🚨 Interactions with multiple inner kinetochore proteins determine mitotic localization of FACT - published by the @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social Group in Journal of Cell Biology

rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Huge congrats to Heng Zhou & Jagannath Maharana from the @raunser-lab.bsky.social on being awarded the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship! Jagannath will investigate the causes of inherited cardiomyophaties & Heng how certain bacterial Tc toxins target and enter host cells #cryoEM #cryoET

Are you eager to join an international community of scientists to tackle novel and exciting research projects in the areas of #biochemistry, #molecularbiology, #biophysics, #cellbiology, #chemicalbiology and #syntheticbiology? Apply to join us at the IMPRS-LM. Application deadline: 3 April, 2025.

Med12 cooperates with multiple differentiation signals to facilitate efficient lineage transitions in embryonic stem cells Cell differentiation results from coordinated changes in gene transcription in response to combinations of signals. FGF, Wnt, and mTOR signals regulate the differentiation of pluripotent mammalian cel...

Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen, Schröter and colleagues @mpi-dortmund.bsky.social highlight role of Med12 in mESCs during early cell differentiation.
Fernkorn et al 2024.
bioRxiv doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.22.576603,
peer reviewed by Review Commons eeb.embo.org/doi/10.1101/2024.01.22.576603

A molecular syringe paves the way to new therapeutic approaches

A molecular syringe paves the way to new therapeutic approaches - read how a team of researchers @raunser-lab.bsky.social @maxplanck.de & University of Geneva & @hhu.de found important insights into how pathogenic bacteria inject deadly enzymes

▶️ www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/molecul...

Today is the #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience
We are celebrating all our female scientists! Check the interview with our postdoc and mother Louisa Hill, who recently got the prestigious EMBO fellowship!

www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/interna...

High-level teamwork for a better molecular understanding of muscle wasting

High-level teamwork for a better molecular understanding of muscle wasting
Structural biologist and Humboldt Fellow @amunts.bsky.social Amunts will be researching age-related bioenergetics together with MPI Director Stefan Raunser @raunser-lab.bsky.social

www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/2025/hi...

Structural insights into actin filament turnover The dynamic turnover of actin filaments drives the morphogenesis and migration of all eukaryotic cells. This review summarizes recent insights into th…

This @raunser-lab.bsky.social review summarizes recent insights into the molecular mechanisms of #actin polymerization and disassembly obtained through high-resolution structures of actin filament assemblies. #cryoEM

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Figure 1 of the linked preprint showing an overview of the structure of the Slo1-γ1 complex. A) Schematic representation of γ subunit domain organization B) Cartoon scheme of γ1 helix binding across the Slo1 voltage sensor C) EM density showing γ1 transmembrane helices binding to Slo1 D) Same depicting the molecular model as cartoon E) Closeup of one γ1 transmembrane segment including transmembrane helix, extracellular hook and intracellular polybasic stretch binding to a Slo1 voltage-seonsor

1/3 Today I can proudly present the first preprint from my project group!

biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We determined the CryoEM structure of the Slo1 potassium channel in complex with the regulatory subunit γ1 and propose a mechanism of how γ1 can activate Slo1.

Multistate kinetics of the syringe-like injection mechanism of Tc toxins Tc toxins perforate cells via a multistep process involving three intermediates, modulated by lipids, receptors, and pH.

First paper 2025🎇
Multistate kinetics of the syringe-like injection mechanism of Tc toxins - published by Enrica Bordignon & @raunser-lab.bsky.social in @science.org Advances #CryoEM

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Muscles growth by sarcomere divisions - how your muscles add new sarcomeres during developmental growth: they divide! Cool collaboration @friedrich-group.bsky.social @raunser-lab.bsky.social @Dirk Görlich @univ-amu.fr @cnrs.bsky.social sciencecast.org/casts/aspy9l... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

How cells maintain their central processing unit for cell division

One of our research highlights this year:
Read how scientist around @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social unveiled the role of the enzyme PLK1 in regulating centromeres’ restoration after cell division
www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/how-cel...

Molecular gardening: New enzymes discovered for protein modification pruning

Read how deubiquitinases USP53 and USP54 cleave long polyubiquitin chains and how the former is linked to liver disease in children #pressrelease on publication by @maltegersch.bsky.social group in @natureportfolio.bsky.social #ChemicalBiology
www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/news/new-enz...

Please take notice of this interesting symposium