Project Details
Projekt
GRK 1384: Enzymes and Multienzyme Complexes Acting on Nucleic Acids
Subject Area
Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
Term
from 2006 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 19985993
The International Research Training Group is formed by scientists from the Justus-Liebig-University (Gießen), the Philipps-University (Marburg), the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and associated partners from the Institute of Biotechnology (Vilnius), and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (Warsaw). The International Research Training Group focusses on the training of doctoral students in the biochemistry of enzymes and multienzyme complexes acting on nucleic acids. These enzymes are crucial for copying, maintenance, repair, and expression of genetic information. Some are essential tools for gene technology, and a thorough understanding of these systems will certainly enable better use to be made of them. Malfunction of several of these enzymes is causally related to human diseases, in particular some forms of cancer; understanding their mechanism of action may lead to new therapeutic concepts.
Our study and research programme considers proteins both as individual structures and as components of networks or macromolecular machines. With the array of interdisciplinary expertise of the partners, we will make substantial progress in understanding target site location, recognition and initiation of catalysis by enzymes replicating, restricting, modifying and repairing DNA, as well as in uncovering structural and functional implications of the cooperation of subunits in multienzyme complexes involved in RNA synthesis, processing, translation and degradation - issues of central importance for all enzymes acting on nucleic acids.
The principal goal of the International Research Training Group is to educate dedicated doctoral students in contemporary interdisciplinary approaches for addressing important and timely questions about a subject of central importance in biochemistry and molecular biology, namely the enzymology of enzymes acting on nucleic acids. The network offers students a unique opportunity for projects in an environment of research excellence, provided by the experienced partners who have similar research interests and complementary expertise. Working across disciplines will enable them to appreciate the synergism that underlies productive interdisciplinary interactions.
The goals of the network are achieved by a programme of in-lab, out-of-lab and network-wide activities. Young researchers trained in our network greatly benefit from our integrated interdisciplinary approach and are well-placed for contemporary academic and industrial research.
Our study and research programme considers proteins both as individual structures and as components of networks or macromolecular machines. With the array of interdisciplinary expertise of the partners, we will make substantial progress in understanding target site location, recognition and initiation of catalysis by enzymes replicating, restricting, modifying and repairing DNA, as well as in uncovering structural and functional implications of the cooperation of subunits in multienzyme complexes involved in RNA synthesis, processing, translation and degradation - issues of central importance for all enzymes acting on nucleic acids.
The principal goal of the International Research Training Group is to educate dedicated doctoral students in contemporary interdisciplinary approaches for addressing important and timely questions about a subject of central importance in biochemistry and molecular biology, namely the enzymology of enzymes acting on nucleic acids. The network offers students a unique opportunity for projects in an environment of research excellence, provided by the experienced partners who have similar research interests and complementary expertise. Working across disciplines will enable them to appreciate the synergism that underlies productive interdisciplinary interactions.
The goals of the network are achieved by a programme of in-lab, out-of-lab and network-wide activities. Young researchers trained in our network greatly benefit from our integrated interdisciplinary approach and are well-placed for contemporary academic and industrial research.
DFG Programme
International Research Training Groups
International Connection
Russia
Applicant Institution
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Co-Applicant Institution
Philipps-Universität Marburg
IRTG-Partner Institution
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Peter Friedhoff
Cooperation Partners
Dr. Andrei Alexeevski; Professorin Dr. Olga Dontsova; Professor Dr. Mikhail Gelfand; Professorin Sofia G. Georgieva; Dr. Anna Karyagina-Zhulina; Dr. Elena Kubareva; Professor Sergey Razin; Professor Dr. Ivan Shatsky; Dr. Sergey Spirin
Participating Researchers
Professor Dr. Albrecht Bindereif; Professor Dr. Alexander Brehm; Professor Dr. Roland K. Hartmann; Professorin Dr. Gabriele Klug; Professorin Dr. Manja Marz; Professor Dr. Michael Niepmann; Professor Dr. Alfred Pingoud (†); Professor Dr. Stephan Pleschka; Professor Dr. Rainer Renkawitz; Dr. Wolfgang Wende; Professorin Dr. Annegret Wilde; Professor Dr. John Ziebuhr
IRTG-Partner: Spokesperson
Professorin Tatjana Oretskaya
