Study the structure and function of plant intercelular communication channels and plasma membrane proteins

Keywords: Plasmodesmays communication phloem

Structural and in vitro molecular and immunological characterization of proteins associated with severe malaria in young children.

Keywords: malaria, pathogenesis, immunity, variant surface antigens, ICAM1, adhesion, molecular interactions

Structural analysis of proteins in solution with a focus on the fibrillation process, leading to amyloids and amyloid-like structures.

Structural Analysis of Amyloid
Solution small angle X-ray scattering analysis of complex mixtures

Keywords: BioSAXS, amyloid fibril,

Dynamic Protein-Protein Interactions - Understanding Functional Interactions from a Structural Dynamics Platform

Keywords: NMR, Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, membrane proteins, protein interactions

Synthesis and evaluation of biologically active peptidomimetics and macrocyclic peptides

Keywords: Foldamers, macrocycles, post translational modifications, epigenetics, affinity-based probes

Elucidation of structure-function relationships in secondary active transporters

Keywords: neurotransmitter transporters, fluorescence, x-ray crystallography, functional reconstitution, membrane protein purification, molecular pharmacology, drug discovery,

Structure-based drug design and GPCR crystallography

Keywords: GPCR, computational drug design, crystallisation construct design, database development

Disruptive technologies to study the biophysical properties of membranes and membrane proteins on the nanoscale using fluorescence microscopy.

Keywords: Nanoscale membrane biophysics, membrane proteins, membrane curvature, single molecules, fluorescence microscopy, Ras, G protein coupled receptors, primary and secondary active transporters.

Hydration properties of biopolymers by multi-phase MAS NMR

Keywords: MAS NMR, hydration, polysaccharides

Computational chemistry and prediction of drug metabolism

Molecular understanding of macromolecules involved in cell cycle and genome instability.

Keywords: protein-DNA interaction, X-ray, Electron Microscopy, Biophysics

Laccase structure-function relations for enzymatic lignin modification.

Keywords: Structural Biology, X-Ray Crystallography, Enzyme Engineering

Protein structure prediction and validation using NMR. Computational enzyme catalysis and design.

Keywords: Computational Chemistry

The goal is to obtain detailed understanding of ligand-gated ion channel receptor structure and function, which is essential for providing a rational basis for design of therapeutic strategies for treating diseases and disorders within the central nervous system.

Keywords: Structural biology on receptors and soluble domains hereof; protein X-ray and neutron crystallography, protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions, structure-based ligand design; ionotropic glutamate receptors

Analysis of the primary structure of proteins by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS). As well as analysis of the higher-order structure and molecular interactions of proteins and protein systems by hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS).

Keywords: Bioanalytical Chemistry, Protein Analytical Chemistry, HDX-MS, Protein Mass Spectrometry

Biophysics and soft matter studies, with main emphasis on self-assembly, biomaterials and synthetic biology

Director of CFIM (Core Facility for Integrated Microscopy)

Keywords: Microscopy

Molecular dynamics simulations restrained by experimental data and Relationship between protein structure, function and dynamics

Link between protein dynamics and function using NMR spectroscopy to look at protein misfiling, enzyme catalysis and membrane transport.

Keywords: NMR, Protein dynamics, enzyme stability

Molecular-level interaction between Plasmodium falciparum parasite adhesion ligands and human host endothelial receptor proteins to improve understanding of malaria pathogenesis and immunity

Keywords: malaria, adhesion, pathogenesis, immunity

Exploring the role of metal ions in biological systems using various spectroscopic techniques. Current interests: Cu(II) and Zn(II) in Alzheimer's disease, metalloregulatory proteins, ultrasensitive radioisotope based NMR.

Keywords: Metal ions, proteins, spectroscopy

Structural biology of carbohydrate-active, other biotechnology relevant enzymes and  transcription factor.

Keywords: Biochemistry, Carbohydrate-active enzymes, transcription factors

Investigating the role of mechanics in stem cell decision making and the connection between stem cells and cancer using optical methods.

Keywords: nano-photonics, quantitative cell biology, stem cells, cancer, optical trapping, nanoparticles

Structure and Self-assembly of Lipid and Protein based systems Small-Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering (SAXS/SANS) experiments and analysis

Enzyme engineering and design. Development of selection systems for accelerated evolution of enzyme activities.

Keywords: enzymology, protein engineering, bacterial genetics

Basic pharmacology within the area of 7TM receptors

Keywords: incretin hormones, 7TM G protein coupled receptors, virus-exploited 7TM receptors

Bioinorganic Chemistry - Metal ions in biological systems: structure, function, binding, shuttling and exchange - Structure and function of redox active metalloenzymes in metabolic and biotechnological processes

Keywords: Bioinorganic Chemistry

Artificial small molecule antibodies and enzymes for medicine and diagnostics using state of the art combinatorial technology

Keywords: Molecular recognition and processing, Artificial antibodies and enzymes, Combinatorial technology, Peptide - organic solid phase synthesis, Polymers, Cell signalling, Molecular modelling and NMR spectroscopy.

Structural Biology of Molecular Machines

Keywords: cryo-electron microcopy (cryo-EM), structural biology, bacteriophages, bacterial secretion systems, contractile injection systems, membrane transport

Advanced fluorescent microscopy and single molecule techniques for deciphering protein dynamics and their role in regulation of protein activity and plasticity

Keywords: Single molecule, microscopy, biophysics,

Interplay between (un)natural compounds and secondary transporters involved in health and disease.

Keywords: X-ray crystallography, EM, Transporters, Structure, Function

Protein and nucleic acid structures and development of their synthetic modification as tools to investigate aspects of biological chemistry

Keywords: Circular dichroism, fluorescence, electronic structure, excited states, pharmaceutical proteins, bioinorganic chemistry, metal ions, nanoclusters, biosensors

The overarching aim is to reveal the molecular principles and determinants of medically relevant transport processes across cellular membranes

Keywords: membrane proteins, structure, function

Mechanosensing of cell shapes and dynamics of membrane proteins using advanced optical tools.

Keywords: Filopodia dynamics, membrane curvature, membrane tubes, BAR domain proteins, optical manipulation of membranes, Optically controlled fusion of membranes and cells

Keywords: X-ray Science

Structure and function of enzymes, and proteins involved in malaria.

Keywords: carbohydrate active enzymes; enzymes involved in nucleotide metabolism

Structure-function studies of ion channels (electrophysiology, unnatural amino acids, fluorometry assays)

Keywords: electron microscopy, catalysis

Keywords: GPCR, 7TM, G protein coupled receptor activation, signal transduction, monoamine transporters

Understanding protein structure and protein structure evolution using probabilistic models and machine learning.

Keywords: Bayesian statistics, probabilistic programming, machine learning, directional statistics

Chemical and Molecular Receptology

Keywords: Structural biology, Molecular modeling of alternative functional states , Design of pharmacological tool compounds, Structure based drug discovery and optimization, Structural chemical genomics, 7TM, G-Protein Coupled Receptors

Physiological function and pharmacological or therapeutic potential of G protein-coupled receptors

Keywords: 7TM receptors, GPCR, obesity, diabetes, enteroendocrinology

The overall purpose of our research is to achieve insight into molecular, cellular and genetic processes responsible for synaptic signal transmission and how these processes can be modulated by drugs. We have a specific focus on neurotransmitter receptors and transporters with interest in their structure, mechanism and cellular regulation.

Keywords: neurotransmitter receptors, neurotransmitter transporters, structure, cell biology, single molecule microscopy, molecular neuropharmacology

Molecular mechanisms leading to protein self-assembly and characterization of the physico-chemical properties of protein aggregates.

Keywords: Protein Aggregation, Amyloid-like Superstructures, Protein-Membrane Interactions, Polymers, Theoretical Models for Self-Assembly, Protein-based Biomaterials

Improving the methodology for molecular simulation, and using Machine Learning to provide more accurate models of the structural preferences in proteins.

Keywords: Molecular simulation, Machine Learning