Congratulations to the "Entry and budding of enveloped viruses group" labelled ’FRM 2023 group’ for its project "Structure and function of ESCRT-III polymers”
The prestigious "FRM team" label is awarded for three years and finances innovative work in biology and health.
The research program of Winfried Weissenhorn’s group aims to understand the structural and function of “endosomal sorting complexes required for transport” (ESCRT), a highly conserved membrane remodeling machinery present in all kingdoms of life.
Cellular membranes are constantly remodeled. Key steps in remodeling require ESCRT-III and the ATPase VPS4, which constrict and cleaves membrane necks to severe for example newly formed viruses from the cell surface or separate two daughter cells after cell division or seal holes in damaged membranes. In addition to membrane remodeling, some ESCRT-III members exert additional, yet unknown functions in the nucleus.Dysfunction of the ESCRT machinery is associated with a diverse set of pathologies such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases.
Within the “Equipe FRM” project, the EBEV group aims to elucidate the structure and function of ESCRT-III on membranes and on chromatin, which will provide novel insight into the mechanism of ESCRT-catalyzed membrane fission and its relation to chromatin biology.