Functional analysis of septin scaffolds assembled at the plasma membrane during cytokinesis (A11)

• Subject Area: Biochemistry
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 184695641

Septins play essential roles during mammalian cell division, but how their assembly at the midbody is coordinated at the molecular level is unknown. We discovered that a subgroup of septins associates with distinct splice variants of PIPK Iy, a major PIP2-synthesizing enzyme. Depletion of these isoforms disrupts septin filaments and induces severe cytokinetic defects. We will use super-resolution light microscopy, combined with genetic and pharmacological manipulations, and proteomic approaches to investigate how a PIPK Iy-associated septin-based scaffold orchestrates the functional reorganization of the cytokinetic machinery.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 958: Scaffolding of Membranes: Molecular Mechanisms and Cellular Functions
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Oliver Daumke, until 6/2019; Professor Dr. Helge Ewers; Professor Dr. Michael Krauß