Structural investigation of Ca2+ signaling and transport across biological membranes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Henning Tidow
• Subject Area: Structural Biology
• Term: from 2013 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 237764578

Calcium ions (Ca2+) are the most tightly regulated ions within all organisms and impact nearly every aspect of cellular life as they play an important role as secondary messengers in numerous signal transduction processes. In resting cells the cytoplasmic Ca2+-level is low. Plasmamembrane Ca2+-ATPases (PMCAs) set the stage for signalling by extruding Ca2+ from the cytoplasm (against a steep concentration gradient). Signalling occurs when the cell is stimulated to release Ca2+ from intracellular stores (e.g. via inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) receptors (IP3R)) and/or when Ca2+ enters the cell through plasma-membrane ion channels.Recently, we and others have obtained important structural insight into the regulatory domains of PMCA and IP3R family members, however, crucial questions in particular regarding their transmembrane domains remain: How do the three-dimensional structures of these Ca2+- transporters look like? How do they work and how are they regulated? Our overall goal is to investigate structure, function and regulation of PMCAs and IP3 receptors from various species, ranging from plants and mammals to protozoan parasites. Further (structural) insight into the control of Ca2+ levels in cells will have vast implications for a broad range of cellular processes ranging from gene expression to signal transduction.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups
• Major Instrumentation: FPLC System
• Instrumentation Group: 1350 Flüssigkeits-Chromatographen (außer Aminosäureanalysatoren 317), Ionenaustauscher