Confocal fluorescence detection of docking and fusion of single proteoliposomes - focus on a novel SNARE hybrid complex (B06)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: from 2009 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 55908123

The aim of this proposal is to gain insight into intermediate states of SNARE-mediated fusion. In addition to genuine SNAREs we will focus on an unusual SNARE hybrid complex consisting of the R-SNARE VAMP4 and three effector proteins of the pathogen Legionella pneumophila, which phenocopy Q-SNAREs in in vitro fusion reactions despite limited structural similarity. We expect that comparing fusion mechanisms of the hybrid complex with genuine SNAREs and synthetic SNARE analogs will yield novel insights into the structural requirements of protein-mediated membrane fusion.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 803: Functionality Controlled by Organisation in and between Membranes
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie; (Karl-Friedrich-Bonhoeffer-Institut) (aufgelöst); Technische Universität Braunschweig
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Reinhard Jahn; Professor Dr. Peter Jomo Walla