SFB 1551 - Collaborative Research Centre 1551

Computational investigation of the sequence context of arginine/glycine-rich motifs in the human proteome - BMC Genomics Arginine-glycine (RG)-rich motifs are among the most prevalent RNA-binding elements within intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins and play crucial roles in RNA metabolism, gene regulation, and the formation of membraneless organelles via liquid phase separation (LLPS). Despite their biological relevance and implication in neurological disorders and cancer, the sequence features and context dependencies that define functional RG motifs remain poorly characterized owing to their disordered nature and sequence variability. In this study, we present a computational framework to dissect the sequence and structural context of RG motifs across the human proteome. By contrasting a functionally defined positive dataset—enriched for RNA-binding and phase-separating proteins—with a negative dataset of RG motif proteins lacking these annotations, we identified distinct compositional and contextual signatures. RG motifs in the functionally defined positive dataset show increased enrichment of phenylalanine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, and asparagine, both within and around the motif, as well as nonrandom spatial relationships with structured RNA-binding domains. Notably, phenylalanine and tyrosine exhibit divergent positional and functional profiles, suggesting distinct mechanistic roles. Our analysis highlights the potential of sequence-based approaches to uncover functional determinants in disordered protein regions and further advances our understanding of the properties of RG motifs, offering a transferable framework for the study of other low-complexity motifs.

🖥️ New Publication Alert
Congratulations to Eric Schumbera, @dormannlab.bsky.social, @waltherlab.bsky.social & @miguelandrade66.bsky.social on their recent publication in BMC Genomics
#RGmotifs #IDRs #LLPS #HumanProteome #ComputationalMotifAnalysis
bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

🚨 Publication Alert 🚨
Congratulations to Weixiang Chen from @waltherlab.bsky.social Andreas Walther Lab on their recent publication in #NatureCommunications! 🎉👏
#SyntheticNuclearArchitectures #TranscriptionalCondensates #DNAProtonucleus #BiomolecularCondensates #PhaseSeparation #SFB1551 #UniMainz

Last week we attended a fantastic meeting of the SPP2191 and GBM Compact on Condensates!
Congrats to members of the Dormann Lab, Yelyzaveta Zadorozhna and Fatmanur Tiryaki, for giving great talks, and to Saskia Hutten for winning a poster award 🎉!
@spp2191.bsky.social
@sfb1551.bsky.social

Auf ein Bier mit einem Zombieforscher Ende Mai erhaschten Interessierte weltweit einen Blick in den Elfenbeinturm: In 27 Ländern gleichzeitig fand das Pint-of-Science-Festival statt, bei dem Forschende in Kneipen und Cafés ihre Erkenntni....

SFB1551 group leader Michael te Vrugt was featured in Nachrichten aus der Chemie!
At @pintofscience.de, he wowed the audience with a creative "zombie apocalypse talk"—playfully testing models that also apply to real epidemics like rabies & COVID-19🧪🍺🧟
Check👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🚨🚨IDPSeminars is BACK 🚨🚨

Season 19 (!) gets underway next week with @rohitpappu68.bsky.social and Meredith Jackrel!

Date: Thur. Sept 4th
Time: 1 pm EST [USA] / 7 pm CET [Europe]

If you've previously signed up, you should be good to go, otherwise, please sign up at idpseminars.com

A heartfelt thank you to you and to all the members at @mpip-mainz.mpg.de who participated. We truly appreciate your support!

Science for a Better Tomorrow This book explores how biosciences, AI, and IT can innovate biomedicine and health, expanding on the discussion held at the Curious2024 Conference.

✨ Polymers: The Hidden Heroes of Life ✨
Thrilled to share that our science outreach chapter has just been published in the Springer Series "Science for a Better Tomorrow"! A true example of how collaboration and curiosity can drive meaningful science communication!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

#Biocondensates #CellBiology #PhaseSeparation #Biophysics #MolecularBiology #LifeSciences

Fresh in Nature Communications: a big update from the international biocondensate community featuring SFB1551 spokespersons @dormannlab.bsky.social and @lemkelab.bsky.social
Read more 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to all authors!

Multi-scale Simulations of MUT-16 Scaffold Protein Phase Separation and Client Recognition Phase separation of proteins plays a critical role in cellular organisation. How phase separated protein condensates underpin biological function and how condensates achieve specificity remain elusive...

🎉 Congrats to @kgaurav.bsky.social, Lukas Stelzl & @reneketting.bsky.social (SFB1551) on their new Biophysical Journal paper! #MUT16 #PhaseSeparation #MutatorFoci #SmallRNA #GeneRegulation #Celegans #ProteinAssembly #RNAResearch #MultiscaleSimulations Great teamwork👏👏👏 www.cell.com/biophysj/ful....

Shout-out to all the students in our network! 💪
Check out the EMBL courses and conferences for 2026! The SFB1551 Integrated Research Training Group is here to support your journey with top-notch training to boost your project. #EMBL #research #training #lifesciences #molecularbiology #bioinformatics

Register here: gbm-compact.org/gbm-compact-...

What an amazing crowd we had at the recent SPP2191 & SFB1551 joint retreat at Basecamp Bonn!
We can’t wait to see everyone again in September at the GBM Compact: Focus on Condensate Biology & the SPP2191 Satellite Meeting in Frankfurt. Early registration ends today!

Molecular simulations of enzymatic phosphorylation of disordered proteins and their condensates - Nature Communications Here, the authors implement molecular dynamics simulations to model ATP-driven enzymatic reactions, revealing how the enzyme CK1δ phosphorylates condensates of the neurodegeneration linked protein TDP...

🚨Publication alert🚨
"Molecular simulations of enzymatic phosphorylation of disordered proteins and their condensates" by Emanuele Zippo, @lstelzl.bsky.social, @dormannlab.bsky.social & Thomas Speck. Congratulations!!
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#TDP43 #CK1δ #ALS #biophysics #proteincondensates

#PintOfScience Mainz 2025 with a full house at Wallenstein! 🧬🧟‍♂️Glad to hear Michael te Vrugt from SFB1551 @unimainz.bsky.social connecting zombie outbreaks with real-world challenges like pandemics! Huge thanks to the organizers & congrats to all speakers on a great night! #pint25 @pintofscience.de

How often do you hear about zombies & physics? If you are in Mainz, you just can’t miss Michael te Vrugt‘s talk on Monday, 19 May at 18h, downtown at the Wallenstein Cafe!
Come and get sip of science with your friends.
Get your tickets here: www.pintofscience.de/events/mainz

We are thrilled to announce that registration has officially opened for the GBM Compact 2025 and SPP2191 International Symposium, which will take place as a satellite meeting! Save the dates 16-19 September & register in the link below👇

Some of our researchers took part in the workshop 'Using AI Assistants to Increase Productivity' by Daniel Mertens. We're grateful to the trainer for the insightful content & to the co-organizers for making it possible @sfb1361.bsky.social, @imbmainz.bsky.social @4r-rtg.bsky.social, SFB1552 & GenEvo

Join us from May 19–21 for an exciting series of science talks in the heart of Mainz. Meet brilliant researchers, explore topics from physics to genetics, and enjoy your favorite drink in a relaxed atmosphere.
Bring your friends, save the dates, and secure your spot!
#pint25 #pint25DE #pintDE

🎭Wrapped up the Laboratory of Theatrical Practices w/ actress & director Sofia Cabrita @unimainz.bsky.social
An IRTG workshop exploring where performance meets research — embodiment, attention & improvisation in action. Thanks to all who brought the energy! 🙌
#ArtAndScience #training #communication

This conference will highlight how life science questions pose new challenges and push frontiers in polymer science forward, and how novel polymer concepts and technologies can be developed to solve fundamental questions about cellular function!

We look forward to welcoming you there!

📢 We are thrilled to announce our International Symposium on Polymer Concepts in Cellular Function, happening from 4-6 March 2026!

📍It will take place in Mainz, Germany, at the @mpip-mainz.mpg.de on the
@unimainz.bsky.social campus.

🌐 Find more information here: crc1551.com/sfb1551-inte...

Science came alive at #GirlsAndBoysDay 2025! 🔬✨
30 young minds explored cell imaging, molecular simulations & more at @unimainz.bsky.social + @imbmainz.bsky.social
Big thanks to the amazing #SFB1551 researchers for inspiring the next gen of scientists!
#STEM #FutureScientists #ScienceForAll

It was a pleasure to host Prof. Dr. Paolo Arosio from @ethzurich.bsky.social, who gave a fascinating talk on "Engineering Enzymatic Reactions and Protein Aggregation with Biomolecular Condensates." #BiomolecularCondensates #PhaseSeparation #EnzymaticReactions #ProteinAggregation

Recently, some of our female PhD students attended the SpeakUp workshop led by Katarina Kovalcikova, followed by a panel discussion highlighting diverse and exciting career paths in both academia and industry!
Grateful to the event co-organizers @sfb1361.bsky.social @4r-rtg.bsky.social and GenEvo.

Deciphering driving forces of biomolecular phase separation from simulations The formation and modulation of biomolecular condensates as well as their structural and dynamic properties are determined by an intricate interplay o…

We are proud to share a new publication from Lukas Stelzl Lab @lstelzl.bsky.social "Deciphering driving forces of biomolecular phase separation from simulations" was just published on Current Opinion in Structural Biology. Congratualtions to the authors!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congratulations to Dr. Philipp Schönberger! We are proud to announce that Philipp is the 1st fully-funded graduate of the SFB1551 IRTG IPP program. Philipp focused on exploring the polymeric functions of ubiquitin and SUMO in protein phase separation at Helle Ulrich's Lab at @imbmainz.bsky.social

Scientists marching in a carnival parade? Sounds crazy, right? Well, that’s exactly what we did & we did it in style!
Big thanks to all our members for their creativity, dedication, and energy: you made science shine at Mainz Carnival!
@unimainz.bsky.social @imbmainz.bsky.social @mpip-mainz.mpg.de

We are thrilled to unveil our latest video showcasing our cutting-edge Collaborative Research Center! Produced for Biophysical Society TV, this video has just been featured at the Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in Los Angeles.
Huge thank you to everyone involved in bringing this to life!

👏👏👏 Congratulations to the Luck Lab
@katjaluck.bsky.social for the recent publication on Current Opinion in Structural Biology! Well done!