News archive 2022

The University of Münster will expand its career support programme for clinician scientists who combine both clinical work and research – so that their patient-oriented perspective can help shape future medical care based on new research results. The German Research Foundation is funding the programme with more than two million euros.

A team of researchers led by biochemist Prof Andrea Rentmeister discovered that by using so-called FlashCaps they were able to control the translation of mRNA by means of light. The results have been published in the journal “Nature Chemistry”.

A boost for research with cutting-edge imaging methods: Through a grant from the German Research Foundation, researchers from the University of Münster, working with structural biologist Prof Christos Gatsogiannis, will receive equipment for high-performance cryo-electron microscopy. Numerous research groups will use these instruments to make molecular processes in cells visible and examine particles, such as viruses, in three dimensions.

The German Research Foundation has approved the new CRC/TRR 332 “Neutrophils: Origin, Fate & Function”. This network brings together researchers from the three applicant Universities of Münster (spokesperson: Prof Oliver Söhnlein), Munich and Duisburg-Essen as well as cooperation partners from Dresden and Dortmund.

Two members of “Cells in Motion” receive a major award from the European Research Council. CiM spokesperson Prof Lydia Sorokin will use the several million-euros grant to mimic components of the blood-brain barrier in 3D models to study factors that affect its permeability to immune cells. Particle physicist Prof Christian Weinheimer works on measurements of hypothetically predicted particles that might constitute dark matter.

Medical professional Nadine Heiden is training to become a specialist physician while actively pursuing research. “I always wanted to do both,” she says – and a close connection between research and patient care can only be beneficial. Although the dual qualification is challenging, Nadine Heiden provides insight into how it is working out for her.

Fruit flies with a new variant of a “clock gene” are spreading northwards. A team led by neurobiologists Prof Ralf Stanewsky and Dr Angélique Lamaze at the University has now found an explanation for this phenomenon. The study was published in the journal “Nature Communications”

Most living organisms have an internal clock which controls the sleep-wake rhythm. This rhythm lasts approximately one day (“circadian”), is regulated by means of various “clock genes” and coordination with factors such as light and temperature. A research team led by neurobiologist Prof. Ralf Stanewsky has demonstrated in fruit flies that a certain ion transport protein (“KCC”) plays a role in regulating circadian rhythms by means of light.

Biologist Dr Ivan Bedzhov, a research group leader at the MPI in Münster and a member of several research networks at the University of Münster, receives funding from the European Research Council amounting to two million euros for five years. He will use the funding to study how mammalian embryos preserve their viability and developmental potential for extended periods of time in a state of suspended animation.

Biochemist Prof. Andrea Rentmeister has been awarded a Proof of Concept Grant, worth 150,000 euros, from the European Research Council. Together with business chemist Prof. Jens Leker, she is now working out how to make a marketable product out of a method she has developed to activate mRNA. This method enables scientists to use light to control biochemical processes inside living cells.

A team of researchers led by biochemist Prof. Daniel Kümmel from the University of Münster, together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, has clarified the structure of the protein complex “Mon1/Ccz1” which is an important regulator of cellular degradation processes. This complex belongs to a family of regulators which are involved in a range of cellular processes and for which no structural information previously existed.

Biochemist Prof Lydia Sorokin investigates how protein structures surrounding cells in tissues can influence their function. Here, in the interview, she talks about her work as a scientist, her love of nature and digital formats for exchanging knowledge with international colleagues.