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).
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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).
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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).
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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).
Last modified: | 14 August 2023 12.32 p.m. |