Science
A roadmap for epigeneticsInterview with Alexander Meissner, Harvard University and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA The price tag is as impressive as are the goals: US $190 million have been earmarked for the systematic identification of the differences between the epigenomes of various cell types in an attempt to decipher the characteristic epigenetic patterns of differentiation status, cell type, healthy and diseased cells. Alexander Meissner explains the project´s opportunities and comments on the arguments of the critics. Citation: (2009). A roadmap for epigenetics. Interview with Alexander Meissner. B.I.F. FUTURA 24(1), 20-23 Copyright: © Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”, which permits free, irrevocable and universal right on access to these contributions and allow the work to be used, reproduced, or disseminated in digital form, provided the original author, copyright holder and source are credited.  Download PDF of the article (120 KB)
Reviews
Basic principles of polarity establishment and maintenance. 97th International Titisee Conference
Robert A. Arkowitz 1, Pablo A. Iglesias 21 Institute of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, CNRS UMR6543, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France 2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Cell polarity is crucial to embryonic development and the correct function of numerous cell types in diverse organisms. The 97th International Titisee Conference, organized by Anne Ridley (London, UK) and Matthias Peter (Zurich, Switzerland), brought together scientists with a wide range of backgrounds to examine the variety of molecules and mechanisms that establish and maintain cell polarity, and to compare them in model systems ranging from unicellular bacteria to complex multicellular organisms. Citation: (2009). Basic principles of polarity establishment and maintenance. 97th International Titisee Conference. B.I.F. FUTURA 24(1), 5-12 Copyright: © Robert A. Arkowitz, Pablo A. Iglesias. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”, which permits free, irrevocable and universal right on access to these contributions and allow the work to be used, reproduced, or disseminated in digital form, provided the original author, copyright holder and source are credited. Download PDF of the article (700 KB)To B or not to be. B cells as regulators of autoimmunity
Ari Waisman, Friederike Frommer, First Medical Department, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany Textbook knowledge has it that B cells are responsible for the production of antibodies, while T cells regulate this process. However, there is a growing body of evidence to the effect that B cells can also regulate T cells thereby preventing autoimmune responses. Citation: (2009). To B or not to be. B cells as regulators of autoimmunity.B.I.F. FUTURA 24(1), 13-19 Copyright: © Ari Waisman, Friederike Frommer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”, which permits free, irrevocable and universal right on access to these contributions and allow the work to be used, reproduced, or disseminated in digital form, provided the original author, copyright holder and source are credited. Download PDF of the article (230 KB)
Research Articles of B.I.F. Fellows (Results)In these final accounts, B.I.F. fellowship holders present a brief summary of the research results and publications of their PhD project. Plasticity of polarization: transforming dendrites into axons in mature neuronal circuitsSusana Gomis-Rüth Research Group Axonal Growth and Regeneration, Max-Planck-Institute of Neurobiology, Munich, Germany Hfe acts in hepatocytes to prevent haemochromatosisJudit Kiss Pediatric Oncology, Haematology and Immunology, Childrens Hospital, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany Investigation of the tau protein using multidimensional NMR spectroscopyMarco Mukrasch NMR Based Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany Characterization of T helper lymphocytes in chronic inflammationUwe Niesner Department of Cell Biology, German Rheumatology Research Center (DRFZ), Berlin, Germany ERFAD – a novel flavoprotein in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradationJan Riemer Department of Biology, Institute of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland Kdp-dependent K+ homeostasis of Halobacterium salinarumHenrik Strahl Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany The chaperone-binding domain of SopE confers transport-pathway specificityBrit Winnen Institute of Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Download Research Articles (1,9 MB)Copyright: © These are open-access articles distributed under the terms
of the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences
and Humanities”, which permits free, irrevocable and universal right on
access to these contributions and allow the work to be used,
reproduced, or disseminated in digital form, provided the original
author, copyright holder and source are credited.
New Projects
The Board of Trustees of the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds meets 3 times annually to decide upon the allocation of PhD fellowships. On July 11 to 12, 2008, they discussed 51 applications – preselected from the original 132 applications sent to the Foundation. Once again, the limited resources available meant that a considerable number of convincing applications had to be turned down. 17 projects and fellowship holders were selected, all of which were taken up.
Biogenesis of polytopic mitochondrial inner membrane proteins with cleavable presequences
Maria Bohnert
Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg (Breisgau), Germany
Defining a ubiquitin-dependent pathway that regulates chromatin-associated
aurora kinase B
Alicja Drozdowska
Institute of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Structural basis for variant-specific roles of histone H3.3
Simon Elsässer
Laboratory of Chromatin Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
Real-time imaging of tumour-associated macrophages in the tumour micro-environment
Martin Etzrodt
Laboratory of Mikael Pittet, Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA and Laboratory of Pedro Romero Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne, Switzerland
Structural characterization of the Ski complex – a major exosome activator
Felix Halbach
Structural Cell Biology Department, Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
A new role for STUbL complexes in genome maintenance
Johanna Heideker
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Investigating synaptic vesicle recycling by stimulated emission depletion microscopy
Peer Hoopmann
Laboratory of STED Microscopy of Synaptic Function, European Neuroscience Institute (ENI), Göttingen, Germany
Short-term plasticity and its implications in cortical circuitry
Chau-Hua Huang
Biophysics of Synaptic Transmission, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
Optogenetic analysis of inhibitory circuits in the neocortex
Dennis Kaetzel
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, UK
Plasticity of neuronal response properties in mouse visual cortex
Anne Kreile
Department of Cellular and Systems Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried, Germany
Regulation of the centriole duplication cycle
Katharina Mayer
Department of Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
Meiotic gene conversion in humans – dynamics and controlling factors
Linda Odenthal-Hesse
Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
Characterization of C2-domain-containing proteins in the inner ear
Kirsten Reuter
Inner Ear Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology, Center for Molecular Physiology of the Brain, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Mechanisms of microtubule-assisted steps in nuclear envelope breakdown
Andrea Rothballer
Institute of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Cellular entry mechanisms of vaccinia virus extracellular virions
Florian Ingo Schmidt
Institute of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Establishment, characterization and differentiation of vertebrate pluripotent stem cells
Eva Thoma
Department of Physiological Chemistry I, Theodor Boveri Institute for Biological Sciences, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Control of aurora B activity in mis-segregating cells
Claudia Wurzenberger
Institute of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Primordial germ cells on their way to the gonads in a 12-day-old zebrafish embryo (green: plasma membrane, blue: cell nucleus; red: the cells’ characteristic perinuclear granules). For further details on cell polarity, see the report on the 97th International Titisee Conference. (Photograph by Maria Doitsidou and courtesy of Erez Raz, Münster, Germany)
Copyright: © Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
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