Research goals

1) To establish the minimal working principles of molecular systems driving specific biological functions in living cells.

Mechanisms of protein translocation; LRRK2-mediated Parkinson’s disease (Kortholt)

Conformational dynamics within a nanopore (Maglia)

Single-particle cryo-EM reveals mechanism of ribosome dimerization

Mechanisms of membrane transport (Slotboom)

Classification of transport proteins (Lolkema)

Structure of photosynthetic complexes (Boekema).

...............................................................................................................................................................................

2) To understand the conditions and constraints under which these different biological systems (can) work together, including the quinary structure of the cell, protein-lipid interactions and the basic principles of spatio-temporal control.

Spatial organization of mRNA, plasmids, and ribosomes (Kok)

Resolving membrane structure through computational microscopy (Marrink)

Volume regulation and synthetic cell (Poolman).

...............................................................................................................................................................................

3) To engineer molecular systems for biotechnological or biomedical applications.

Enzyme engineering by computational library design and in silico screening (Janssen)

Discovery and knowledge-based redesign of enzymes (Fraaije)

Structural insights into steroid binding and oxidation by a P450 enzyme (Thunnissen).

...............................................................................................................................................................................

4) To understand the physiology of microorganisms (bacteria, lower eukaryotes) at the systems level, including cellular homeostasis, biogenesis of proteins and organelles and host-microbe interactions;

Flux-dependent control of metabolism (Heinemann)

Mechanism of chemotaxis (van Haastert)

Cell division and cell wall synthesis (Scheffers)

Novel antibiotics by synthetic biology (Kuipers)

Mechanisms of peroxisome biogenesis and fission (van der Klei).