Max Planck Institutes and Experts

Many chemical or biophysical processes involve molecules that are insoluble or non-crystalline. Consider, for instance, the functional control of membrane proteins by external ligands or the formation of protein aggregates in the context of Alzheimer´s or Parkinson’s disease. In such systems, solid-state NMR can offer unique possibilities to elucidate structural or dynamic parameters at atomic resolution.

Circadian clocks regulate a plethora of physiological processes including the sleep/wake cycle, blood pressure and body temperature. Such clocks enable organisms to adjust to the 24-hour day/night cycle resulting from the rotation of the earth. Virtually all living beings have a circadian clock and in the case of multicellular organisms, most cell types house such a clock. The clock mechanism consists of a stable network of genes and proteins that mutually regulate each other, thereby not only establishing a self-sustaining clockwork but enabling this clock to adjust to periodic environmental changes such as availability of light and access to food.

Life in concentrated brines under extreme conditions of nutrition requires extreme adaptation. By molecular and functional analysis of cellular constituents of halophilic archaea it is possible to gain insight into the biology of these fascinating organisms on a systems level of the cell.

Animal embryos specify four early cell types. Determining the underlying mechanism is one central question of developmental biology. At present, it is studied how the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis manages such developmental program at the eight-cell stage. Specification of germ cells, e.g., depends on the genes vasa and nanos, however, in a different way than in Drosophila melanogaster , demonstrating change of gene function during evolution.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are genome-encoded, about 22 nucleotide-long RNAs that silence gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to 3’-untranslated regions of messenger RNAs. Although much information has been obtained about miRNA biogenesis and biological functions, the mechanisms allowing miRNAs to silence gene expression in animal cells remain controversial. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanism of miRNA-mediated gene silencing.