The aim of our research is to structurally and functionally characterize proteins, and to exploit the working mode of proteins in biochemical, biomedical and biotechnological applications.
NewsWe characterise selected proteins to find out what they are good for and how they work in detail. Next we train these proteins, so that they are not doing their usual job, but new, designed functions relevant to biotechnology and health care.
Proteins are important building blocks of life, and present in every living organism. Proteins are involved in structural tasks, like collagen as the major part of the connective tissue, or have specific functional roles. Such functions can be the binding and transport of compounds, like oxygen, vitamins, hormones or other proteins, or the catalysis of chemical reactions, like the breakdown of many nutrients to the central metabolic compound acetyl-CoA, or the synthesis of the universal energy carrier ATP.
Fatty acid synthases as target of inhibition. Involved in key metabolic pathway, fatty acid synthases represent promising targets for antibiotic and anti-neoplastic treatment.
The use of type I fatty acid synthases (FAS) and type I polyketide synthases (PKS) as multistep catalysts for directed product synthesis. The synthetic concept of these proteins provides high potential for biocatalytic approaches.
We employ broad range of inter-disciplinary methods from chemistry to molecular biology to structural biology.
The Buchmann Institute of Molecular Life Sciences (BMLS) is located at the University of Frankfurt (Riedberg Campus) in the north of Frankfurt am Main. The building with its diverse labs, facilities and offices is brand-new and extremely well equipped. The campus harbors the different life science and chemical faculties of the university, lecture and library buildings, and the Max-Planck-Institutes of Biophysics and Brain Research comprising all disciplines and methods of life sciences.
Our research has been generously supported by BMLS, CEF, DFG, HMWK, Volkswagen Stiftung and the University of Frankfurt.