SynCell-nExUs Supervisors

Prof. Martin Loose is interested in the principles of protein self-organization, with a special emphasis on biochemical reactions on membrane surfaces that lead to out-of-equilibrium protein assemblies. The Loose lab uses in vitro reconstitution experiments and develops fluorescence microscopy methods to quantitatively study the emerging properties of protein systems, with a special focus on the bacterial cell division machinery and the biochemical networks that control the activity of small GTPases.

”Our lab studies how protein networks self-organize to drive cellular organization, combining in vitro reconstitution, quantitative microscopy, computational modeling, and evolutionary analysis. We focus on two areas: bacterial cytoskeletal regulation and small GTPase networks controlling membrane identity. In bacterial cell division, we study how FtsZ filaments treadmill and organize into the Z-ring, using reconstituted systems to reveal diffusion-and-capture mechanisms and regulatory control of division timing and positioning. In parallel, we reconstitute Rab GTPase networks to uncover emergent properties, bistability, ultrasensitivity, spatial self-organization, underlying membrane trafficking. Recently, we’ve extended this work to cyanobacterial cytoskeletal systems, revealing how ancient machineries are evolutionarily repurposed for new cellular functions.”

For more information, visit the Loose Lab’s page.