SFB 746: Functional Specificity by Coupling and Modification of Proteins

任何器官或生物体内细胞的功能和完整性都是由许多细胞过程的协同作用来保证的，这些细胞过程是由大量紧密相连的功能单元来实现的。事实上，蛋白质组学研究确定了许多这些单位作为蛋白质组装的独特复杂性。然而，到目前为止，只有有限数量的这样的组件从不同的细胞室已被成功地研究，他们中的大多数等待表征其架构和功能意义。因此，当前和未来蛋白质和细胞研究的中心挑战是阐明这些复杂蛋白质组装体的组成、功能和动力学，并了解它们如何在蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的基础上产生细胞和生物系统精确工作所需的功能多样性和特异性。合作研究中心在过去两个资助期间的工作，导致在国际顶级期刊上发表了一系列论文，表明蛋白质复合物表现出不同的复杂性水平：具有确定输出的单个蛋白质复合物，为共同任务合作的蛋白质超级复合物，最后是蛋白质网络，更大的实体使用更广泛的信号整合来传达其高度特异性的输出。这些蛋白质复合物作为纳米机器运行，并包含许多迄今未知的蛋白质成分。在第三个资助期内，我们会继续研究“蛋白质编码的功能特异性机制”，重点是蛋白质的偶联和修饰，并采用多学科方法，综合分析不同的细胞系统和过程。SFB是一个由医学院的团体和机构组成的联盟（基础研究机构和大学医院的研究小组），生物学系，以及马克斯普朗克免疫生物学和表观遗传学研究所，在他们的研究活动中密切相关;这些密切的联系，加上年轻研究人员的大力支持，是作为生命周期中心组成部分的科学基金会取得成功的基础在弗赖堡大学的科学。

Function and integrity of cells within any organ or organism is guaranteed by the concerted action of many cellular processes that are realized by a large number of closely interconnected functional units. In fact, proteomic research identified numerous of these units as protein assemblies of distinct complexity. As yet, however, only a limited number of such assemblies from various cellular compartments have been successfully investigated, most of them await characterization of their architecture and functional significance. The central challenge of current and future protein and cellular research is, therefore, to elucidate composition, function and dynamics of these complex protein assemblies and to understand how they generate, on the basis of protein-protein interactions, the functional diversity and specificity required for the exquisitely precise working of cells and biological systems. Work of the Collaborative Research Center in the last two funding periods that led to a series of publications in the international top journals showed that protein complexes exhibit distinct levels of complexity: individual protein complexes with defined output, protein super-complexes that cooperate for a common task and finally protein networks, larger entities using broader signal integration to convey their highly specific output. These protein complexes operate as ¿nano-machineries¿ and comprise a number of as yet unknown protein constituents. Such nano-machineries are crucial for the control of gene expression, the sorting of proteins and rapid signal transduction processes across membranes.In the third funding period the research on "protein-encoded mechanisms of functional specificity" with emphasis on protein coupling and modification will be continued using the multidisciplinary approach that integrates analyses of different cellular systems and processes. The SFB is a consortium of groups and institutions of the Medical Faculty (basic research institutes and research groups of the University Hospital), the Faculty of Biology, and the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics that are closely connected in their research activities; these close connections together with strong support of young researchers are fundamental for the success of the SFB that represents a center piece of the Life Sciences at the University of Freiburg.