CIPSM spin-off AVIRU stands for anti virulence and is a biotechnology start-up that is currently funded as an EXIST transfer of technology project by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in compliance with a resolution of the German Parliament. AVIRU aims to develop the proof-of-concept for an innovative anti-infective drug for the ...

Nucleosomal incorporation of specialized histone variants is an important mechanism to generate different functional chromatin states. Here, we describe the identification and characterization of two novel primate-specific histone H3 variants, H3.X and H3.Y. Their messenger RNAs are found in certain human cell lines, in addition to several normal and ...

Sequential modifications of the RNA polymerase II (Pol II) C-terminal domain (CTD) coordinate the stage-specific association and release of cellular machines during transcription. Here we examine the genome-wide distributions of the 'early' (phospho-Ser5 (Ser5-P)), 'mid' (Ser7-P) and 'late' (Ser2-P) CTD marks. We identify gene class–specific patterns and ...

CIPSM spin-off XL-protein with its revolutionary PASylation technology has been awarded the Science4Life Venture Cup 2010 for its excellent business concept for the development of novel biologics with prolonged action. XL-biologics, a spin-off of XL-protein, will focus on the development of superior biopharmaceuticals with extended plasma half-life utilising ...

The two proteases beta-secretase and gamma-secretase generate the amyloid beta peptide and are drug targets for Alzheimer’s disease. Here we tested the possibility of targeting the cellular environment of beta-secretase cleavage instead of the beta-secretase enzyme itself. beta-Secretase has an acidic pH optimum and cleaves the amyloid precursor protein in ...

The H4K16 acetyltransferase MOF plays a crucial role in dosage compensation in Drosophila but has additional, global functions. We compared the molecular context and effect of MOF in male and female flies, combining chromosome-wide mapping and transcriptome studies with analyses of defined reporter loci in transgenic flies. MOF distributes dynamically ...

We report on a one-step assembly route where supported lipid bilayers (SLB) are deposited on functionalized colloidal mesoporous silica (CMS) nanoparticles, resulting in a core−shell hybrid system (SLB@CMS). The supported membrane acts as an intact barrier against the escape of encapsulated dye molecules. These stable SLB@CMS particles loaded with the ...

Accumulating evidence suggests that, during translation, nascent chains can form specific interactions with ribosomal exit tunnel to regulate translation and promote initial folding events. The clinically important macrolide antibiotics bind within the exit tunnel and inhibit translation by preventing progression of the nascent chain and inducing ...

Diverse steps in gene expression are tightly coupled. Curiously, the La-motif-containing protein Sro9 has been shown to play a role in transcription and translation. Here, we show that Sro9 interacts with nuclear and cytoplasmic protein complexes involved in gene expression. In addition, Sro9 shuttles between nucleus and cytoplasm and is exported from the ...

In order to amaze our next generations for science and chemistry in particular, CIPSM hosted a two day event at an elementary school with lots of do-it-yourself experiments for the school kids. On the first day (11th of May) Oliver Baron gave an experimentary lecture with lots of explosions and "magical" reactions at the Department of Chemistry of ...

CIPSM researcher Jens Michaelis was awarded with the 2010 Nernst-Haber-Bodenstein Prize. The German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry awards the Nernst-Haber-Bodenstein Prize in remembrance of Max Bodenstein, Fritz Haber and Walter Nernst. Congratualtions Jens!

Speedy couriers in the cell. Every single one of our cells contains so-called motor proteins that transport important substances from one location to another. However, very little is known about how exactly these transport processes occur. Biophysicists at CIPSM have now succeeded in explaining fundamental functions of a particularly interesting motor ...

A huge variety of proteins are able to form fibrillar structures, especially at high protein concentrations. Hence, it is surprising that spider silk proteins can be stored in a soluble form at high concentrations and transformed into extremely stable fibres on demand. Silk proteins are reminiscent of amphiphilic block copolymers containing stretches of ...

CIPSM hosts a two day event at an elementary school with lots of do-it-yourself experiments for the school kids. On the first day (11th of May) Oliver Baron gives a experimentary lecture at the Department of Chemistry of the LMU for around 300 kids focusing on water and matter in general. The following day the kids can experiment themselves and get a first ...

Epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the establishment and maintenance of cell-type-specific gene expression patterns. In this review, we focus on the functions of histone lysine methylation in the context of epigenetic gene regulation during developmental transitions. Over the past few years, analysis of histone lysine methylation in active and ...

CIPSM speaker Thomas Carell was honored today by the Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer with the Cross of Merit on ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany.

We thank Kirsten Jung for heading the CIPSM Excursion to Bayer Schering Pharma as part of our graduate education series! We heard it was a great time and will enlightingly continue with a follow up excursion.

CIPSM's Christian Haass received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich for his contributions to the characterisation of the intramembrane proteolysis and its importance in neurodegeneration. Congratulation Christian, well done!

A novel detection scheme for pump–repump–probe spectroscopy is presented, where the use of modulation and referencing allows to record the efficiency of a photochemical reaction as a function of the pump–repump delay in a single measurement. This new technique is applied to investigate the ringopening reaction of an indolylfulgide after pre-excitation. Here ...

In sensory cortex regions, neurons are tuned to specific stimulus features. For example, in the visual cortex, many neurons fire predominantly in response to moving objects of a preferred orientation. However, the characteristics of the synaptic input that cortical neurons receive to generate their output firing pattern remain unclear. Here we report a ...