Systematic characterization of phosphoinositide switches involved in T cell function (A11)

• Subject Area: Biochemistry
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278001972

T cell receptor proximal signaling is dependent on the recruitment of effector proteins such as AKT, ITK, VAV1 and PLC¿1 to subcellular membranes. Functional outcomes such as migration, NFkappaB signaling or IL-2 production depend on the plekstrin homology (PH) domain-dependent, reversible interaction with phosphoinositides that acts as molecular switches. We want to understand how these can be modulated by discrete changes in the chemical properties of the membrane or of the PH domains themselves using advanced computational, (bio)chemical and cell biology approaches.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 186: Molecular Switches: Spatio-temporal Control of Cellular Signal Transmission
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Christian Freund; Professorin Dr. Anne-Claude Gavin; Professor Dr. Robert B. Russell