IMM Institute for Molecular Medicine

Research

In our research, we focus on the understanding of organismal, cellular and molecular processes in a variety of model organisms and/or cell culture. Next to the knowledge gain from this basic research, we deduce from it possible application in medicine with the vision to apply the new insights in the treatment of human disease.

Benefits of the Institute

  • Facilitated networking
  • Increased number of publications and grants through close interactions
  • Increased visibility by using the same affiliation in publications
  • Organization of summer schools
  • Start-up funding to generate preliminary data for common grant applications
Internal Collaboration
  • Kinesins in endosomal trafficking
  • EV secretion of autophagy cargo
  • Tubulin interaction OTUD3
  • Ca2+ signaling in intermediate hosts of Schistosoma
  • Ca2+ signaling in EV secretion & endosomal trafficking
  • Cloning of TRPV3 Variants
  • Ca2+ signaling in GID2- cells
  • Infection
  • VLP movement
  • Protein Integrity & Misfolding
  • Virus-like particle(VLP) formation
  • ESCRT proteins in membrane remodelling processes
  • EV secretion in cell migration
  • Phagocytosis
  • Activation of ion channels and Ca2+ signaling in response to complement C5a
Principle Investigators and Scientific Interests

Prof. Stefanie Barbirz
MECHANISMS OF BACTERIOPHAGE INFECTION
Antibiotics, Biofilms

Prof. Christian Hammann
RNA-MEDIATED GENE REGULATION & INFECTION
Retrotransposon control, RNA modifications, catalytic RNAs; Bacterial and viral infection in the model Dictyostelium discoideum

Prof. Thorsten Pfirrmann
CELLULAR PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL MECHANISMS
Ubiquitin Modification System, Autophagy, Molecular Ageing, Primary Cilia

Prof. Wim Walter
INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT MECHANISMS
dynein and kinesins

Prof. Julia Groß
EXTRACELLULAR SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
Wnt Signaling, extracellular vesicles, endosomal sorting - in Drosophila and tumor progression

Prof. Peter Hanley
CHEMOTAXIS, PHAGOCYTOSIS AND MYOSINS
Mechanisms of macrophage chemotaxis and phagocytosis, Physiological roles of unconventional myosins

Prof. Friederike Stumpff
ION CHANNELS IN EPITHELIAL TRANSPORT
TRP channels, anion channels, patch-clamp, intracellular pH, Calcium signalling

Prof. Edgar Kramer
NEURONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson, dementia, neurotrophic factors, receptor tyrosine kinases, ubiquitin ligases

Publications

WITH HMU AFFILIATION

Karuna, … and Gross (2020) Phosphorylation of Ykt6 SNARE Domain Regulates Its Membrane Recruitment and Activity. Biomolecules

Fechtner and Pfirrmann (2021) The GID ubiquitin ligase complex just reached the next level of complexity. Molecular Cell

Fechtner and Pfirrmann (2021) Ubiquitin Ligases Involved in Progeroid Syndromes and Age-Associated Pathologies. Chapter 7 in the book Proteostasis and Proteolysis

Gross (2021) Extracellular WNTs: Trafficking, Exosomes, and Ligand-Receptor Interaction. Review in Handb Exp Pharmacol

Klionsky, …Pfirrmann et al. (2021). Guidelines for the Use and Interpretation of Assays for Monitoring Autophagy (4th edition), Autophagy

Pfirrmann et al (2021), Editorial: Dysregulated Protein Homeostasis in the Aging Organism. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

Verweij,…Gross et al. (2021) The power of imaging to understand extracellular vesicle biology in vivo. Review in Nature Methods

Witte, … and Gross (2021) Visualization and Quantitation of Wg trafficking in the Drosophila Wing Imaginal Epithelium. Bio Protoc

Choezom and Gross (2022) Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 controls exosome secretion by counteracting V-ATPase-mediated endosome acidification.
J Cell Sci

Diesend, … and Hammann (2022) Fractional 2′-O-methylation in the ribosomal RNA of Dictyostelium discoideum supports ribosome heterogeneity in Amoebozoa. Scientific Reports

Liebe, … and Stumpff (2022) Effects of butyrate(-) on ruminal Ca(2+) transport: evidence for the involvement of apically expressed TRPV3 and TRPV4 channels. Pflugers Arch

Gerhardt and T. Pfirrmann (2022) Extracellular vesicles in ciliary signaling. Trillium Extracellular Vesicles

Hantel, ... Gerhardt, T. Hollemann and T. Pfirrmann (2022) Cilia-localized GID/CTLH ubiquitin ligase complex regulates protein homeostasis of sonic hedgehog signaling components. J Cell Sci

Job, … T. Pfirrmann and T. Hollemann (2023) OTUD3: A Lys6 and Lys63 specific deubiquitinase in early vertebrate development. Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech

Kuldyushev, …T. Pfirrmann, T. Hoshi, and S.H. Heinemann (2022) A GFP-based ratiometric sensor for cellular methionine oxidation. Talanta

Pfirrmann and C. Gerhardt (2022) Life-Saver or Undertaker: The Relationship between Primary Cilia and Cell Death in Vertebrate Embryonic Development. J Dev Biol

Varshavsky, … and T Pfirrmann (2023) Dieter Wolf (1941–2023): a life dedicated to understanding protein quality control and the ubiquitin-proteasome system. EMBO Journal

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