Designing a Contractile Ring for Large Membrane Compartments (B10)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: from 2014 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 111166240

The aim of this project is to design a contractile ring structure able to induce deformation and potentially fission of membrane vesicles over spatial scales of several micrometers. We will approach this aim via two separate avenues: 1) rational design of contractile elements assembled from single sliding or conformation-switching DNA origami structures, and 2) mutations of presumably contractile Z ring protein FtsZ, as well as screening for FtsZ homologues with much larger spatial ranges of ring formation (up to 10 µm). The constructed ring structures will be analyzed quantitatively with regard to their potentially induced contractile forces on a single molecule level.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 863: Forces in Biomolecular Systems
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität München (TUM)
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Petra Schwille