High-resolution structural and global signaling network identification of the NEPH-NEPHRIN protein complex (A03)

• Subject Area: Nephrology
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246781735

We established a multispecies platform of complementary transgenic mice with floxed genes for Nphs1, Neph1, Neph2 and Neph3, as well as Gallus gallus and Drosophila model systems that will be combined with high-resolution, large-scale serial 3D EM reconstructions and functional studies to unravel the structure and function of the NEPH-NEPHRIN complex at the slit diaphragm (SD). This will provide the foundation to: (1) Correlate the high-resolution 3D structure of SDs. (2) Analyze the precise role of all NEPH-NEPHRIN family members for the development, stability, dynamics and maintenance of the SD, and (3) Systematically decode the global signaling network of the NEPH-NEPHRIN complex by using a genome-wide RNAi suppressor screen in Drosophila nephrocytes.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1140: Kidney Disease - from Genes to Mechanisms (KIDGEM)
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Tobias B. Huber