SFB 284: Glycoconjugates and Contact Structures of the Cell Surface

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Within the collaborative research centre 284 genes are analyzed that are encoding carbohydrate-modifying enzymes as well as glycolipid binding-proteins. Their gene products are recombinantly expressed in different expression systems to conduct structural and functional analyses with the pure glycoproteins. Inhibitors and inductors are used to analyze the regulation of glycolipid metabolism and the formation of sphingolipid-based signalling molecules.By introducing mutations and recombinations, genes encoding glycoproteins are prepared for the study of their biosynthesis and intracellular transport. Animal models deficient in defined genes are generated by homologous recombination. They allow functional studies of interesting proteins in the whole animal and in cell culture studies. Also naturally formed glycoconjugates are studied and characterized with biochemical methods. A further research focus is on connexin-mediated cell-cell contacts and the stratum corneum of the skin. The molecular function of different connexins are studied in the gap-junctions of different tissues, and that of keratins in suitable knockout animals.The research program is organized in three fields: structure, function, and enzymology (A), cell biology, metabolism, and regulation (B), and molecular biology and pathobiochemistry (C).