Events

Andrea Musacchio
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund & University of Duisburg-Essen

Lecture topic: Building up from scratch the large and very complex molecular machine required for chromosome segregation
Kinetochores provide chromosomes with points of attachment to spindle microtubules during cell division, and are therefore essential for genome inheritance and the propagation of life. In addition to binding microtubules, kinetochores control mitotic surveillance mechanisms that promote chromosome bi-orientation (the error correction mechanism) and prevent premature mitotic exit in presence of incomplete or incorrect microtubule attachments (spindle assembly checkpoint, SAC). Collectively, kinetochores consist of approximately 30 core subunits in two large subcomplexes (abbreviated the CCAN and the KMN) and a plethora of regulatory subunits. They establish an internal phosphorylation gradient to sense microtubule-generated forces and to regulate the quality of kinetochore-microtubule attachment accordingly. How is all this achieved? We are trying to address this fundamental question using human kinetochores as model systems, and in vitro biochemical reconstitution as our main entry strategy, with additional important contributions from cell and structural biology. more

David Zwicker
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen more

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Lecture topic: From Fusion to Fission: Insights from Modeling
Small synaptic vesicles (SVs) undergo tightly regulated cycles of exocytosis and endocytosis at the presynaptic terminal to sustain neurotransmission. The preservation of their morphological uniformity and protein composition across repeated cycles suggests a strong spatial and temporal coupling between vesicle fusion and retrieval. A key intermediate in this process is the hemifusion diaphragm (HD), a geometrically complex membrane structure that critically regulates pore formation and stability during fusion. In this study, we combine particle-based simulations, field-theoretic calculations, and phenomenological modeling to investigate the physical factors governing pore nucleation and dynamics in HDs. We find that pores preferentially form at the HD rim and that their stability is strongly influenced by membrane tension, line tensions, HD size, and lipid flip-flop dynamics. Notably, pores within the HD are only metastable when the diaphragm is both chemically and mechanically constrained. These insights reveal how cells might exploit biophysical parameters to dynamically control pore formation, offering a deeper understanding of potential mechanisms underlying rapid and efficient synaptic release. more

Andreas Janshoff
University of Göttingen

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Lecture topic: The role of polarity in tissue mechanics more

Christine Selhuber-Unkel
Heidelberg University

Lecture topic: "Guiding and controlling cells by in situ laser printing"

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Laura De Laporte
DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen & RWTH Aachen University

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Lecture topic: "Synthetic molecular and colloidal building blocks to overcome challenges in tissue engineering" more

Thorsten Moos
Heidelberg University

Lecture topic: "The long farewell to moral status -
The ethics of synthetic biological systems using the example of embryoids"

Copyright picture: Universität Heidelberg, Kommunikation und Marketing

Michael L. Wong
Earth & Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science

Lecture topic: "An Informational Perspective of Life"

Franziska Thomas
Heidelberg University

Lecture topic: "Scaling Down Nature: Towards Receptory and Catalytic Function in Metallo-Miniproteins"

Andreas Herrmann
DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen & RWTH Aachen University

Lecture topic: “Sonopharmacology and Sonogenetics: Activation of Drugs, Proteins and Nucleic Acids by Ultrasound”

Oskar Staufer
INM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken

Lecture topic: "Immunizing the future – Bottom-up assembly of synthetic cell-based immune microenvironments"

Andrij Pich
DWI - Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen & RWTH Aachen University

Lecture topic: "Colloidal Hydrogels: Functional Building Blocks for Interactive Soft Matter"

Dieter Braun
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Lecture topic: "How to Tackle the Origin of Life with Lab Experiments"

Kai Sundmacher
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg & University of Magdeburg

Lecture topic: "Towards Artificial Life-like Systems (ALLS)"

Lecture topic: "What makes life? Functional Characterization of Unknown Proteins"

Jörg Stülke
University of Göttingen

Lecture topic: "Lessons from Smart Slime: From Memories to Behaviour"

Karen Alim
Technical University of Munich

Lecture topic: "Overriding the Central Dogma: Engineering a Synthetic Model Cell"

Kerstin Göpfrich
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg & Heidelberg University

Lecture topic: "Emergence of directional reversals and torsional forces in cytoskeletal motor systems"

Stefan Diez
Technical University of Dresden

Lecture topic: "Why does it have to be so complicated? Reconstructing bacterial cell division."

Petra Schwille
MPI of Biochemistry, Munich & Technical University of Munich

Lecture topic: "Cell migration on single cell microarrays - matching mechanisms to statistics"

Joachim Rädler 
LMU Munich