Barral Group

We use the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as our main model to study how asymmetric cell division contributes to the generation of cell diversity in eukaryotes. We follow three axes of research. First, we investigate how the mitotic spindle senses and orients along the polarity axis of the cell to reproducibly segregate its oldest centrosome to the bud. Second, we investigate the role of diffusion barriers in the coordination of cell polarity with the plane of division, and in the asymmetric segregation of fate determinants between mother and bud. Third, we are particularly interested in understanding the nature and segregation of age determinants. This leads us to investigate the intriguing possibility that part of the aging process may consist in the accumulation of memory traces by the yeast mother cell. More...

Kornmann Group

Cells are complex entities that contain several subcompartments, called organelles. These compartments need to exchange informations and nutrients to ensure functional coordination of the cellular activity.

The Kornmann laboratory studies the communication between these various organelles. In particular we are interested in the cross-talk between two of these: the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria.

We use the powers of yeast genetics as a tool to discover important cellular players involved in connecting both organelles and we study these components using state-of-the-art biochemical methodologies. Finally, we apply the knowledge gathered in yeast to higher eukaryotes, to gain invaluable insight in the physiology of the human cell. More...

Kutay Group

Research in our lab is centered on the structure, function, biogenesis and dynamics of the mammalian cell nucleus. A main focus is given to unravel the molecular mechanism of nuclear envelope breakdown at the onset of open mitosis. Second, we investigate the biogenesis of the nuclear envelope constituents such as the assembly of nuclear pore complexes and the sorting of membrane proteins to the inner nuclear membrane. Third, we characterize structure and function of LINC complexes, which connect the nuclear envelope to cytoskeletal components and serve as devices for force transmission across the nuclear boundary. And finally, as the second major topic, we seek to understand the assembly of mammalian ribosomes, giving specific emphasis to the role and crosstalk of signalling pathways that coordinate ribosome synthesis with input from external and internal cues. These questions are addressed by a combination of quantitative microscopy, RNAi screening, and biochemistry, exploiting powerful in vitro systems that we have developed. More...

Panse Group

In all living cells, the ribosome is responsible for the final step of decoding genetic information into proteins. We exploit the powerful combination of genetic, biochemical and high-throughput cell-biological approaches available in the model organism budding yeast to unravel and investigate at the molecular level “maturation steps” which funnel ribosomal subunits into translation. More...

Picotti Group

In our laboratory we study the molecular effects of protein aggregation in cells. A number of human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, are associated to the intracellular deposition of specific aggregation-prone proteins, which are critically involved in cellular dysfunction. Characterizing the generic and specific cellular responses to such proteins is of crucial importance to understanding disease pathogenesis and developing novel therapeutics. We apply a combination of new generation proteomic and phosphoproteomic approaches and fluorescence microscopy to studying the proteome-wide responses of cells to the intracellular accumulation of protein aggregates. In addition, we use targeted mass spectrometric assays, based on selected reaction monitoring (SRM) and SWATH-MS, to probe the capability of chemical and genetic modulators of reverting the toxic effects of protein aggregates. More...