Bridging the gap between cell biology and biochemistry with artificial protein prosthetics in cell cycle transitions (A02)

• Subject Area: Biochemistry ; Cell Biology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 424228829

Musacchio’s focus will be on a yet poorly characterized structure in the metazoan kineto-chore, the corona, a fibrous crescent-shaped structure assembled at the kinetochore surface. He will investigate the corona’s features and function in end-on attachment of microtubules to the kinetochore that triggers the metaphase-anaphase transition. To achieve this, he will devel-op and use novel recombinant protein tools that harbour various chemical functionalities, in-cluding fluorescent probes, photo-activatable crosslinkers, and photocaged enzymatic regula-tors.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1430: Molecular Mechanisms of Cell State Transitions
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Andrea Musacchio