Dr. Christoph Kaether
Group Leader
Along the Protein Highway
Christoph Kaether’s research group lays its focus on the trafficking and localization of proteins within cells, mainly of membrane proteins. He is interested in basic cellular mechanisms and neurological diseases caused by mutations in proteins of the secretory pathway.
Christoph Kaether’s research group Membrane Trafficking lays its focus on the trafficking and localization of proteins within cells, mainly of membrane proteins.
These membrane proteins include receptors responsible for correct protein trafficking and transmembrane signal transduction as well as proteins that are involved in aging.
Study by the "Membrane Transport" research group at the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena sheds light on the molecular mechanisms of a rare disease.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU), Israel, and the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena, Germany, have now found that the COPII complexes do not leave the ER for transport. They remain as gatekeepers at ER exit sites from where they control the protein recruitment, sorting and exit to the Golgi. The new findings could lead to a paradigm shift in cell biology.
Der Notch-Signalweg spielt bei vielen Entwicklungsprozessen eine wichtige Rolle. Funktioniert er nicht richtig, kann Krebs entstehen. Zum besseren Verständnis dieses Signalweges durchsuchten Wissenschaftler vom Leibniz-Institut für Altersforschung - Fritz-Lipmann-Institut in Jena gezielt riesige Substanzbanken. Mit Hilfe mikroskopischer Screening-Methoden gelang es in Zusammenarbeit mit Chemikern und Pharmazeuten der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena aus 17.000 Verbindungen 5 Substanzen herauszufinden, die eine Wirkung auf den Notch-Signalweg haben. Möglicherweise ergeben sich hieraus neue Ansatzpunkte für zielgerichtete Therapiestrategien bei Notch-initiierten Erkrankungen. (Nat. Chem. Biol. 2013, doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1356)
