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SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE BRAKES OF AKT ACTIVITY 

A hyperactivation of the protein kinase “Akt” is observed in almost 50% of human cancers.
Due to this, understanding Akt’s regulatory mechanisms is essential for developing and improving cancer therapies.
When activated, Akt switches on its targets inside the cell via the addition of a phosphate – a process called phosphorylation. To avoid hyperactivation, as observed in many cancer cells, the activity of Akt inside the cell needs to be tightly controlled and remain proportional to the external signals – similar to a car’s gas pedal. Here, the outcome (speed) has to be proportional to the external input (the foot applying pressure on the pedal). 
The teams of Thomas Leonard and Ivan Yudushkin at the MFPL investigated the mechanisms ensuring that Akt does not go into overdrive. 
In their Molecular Cell study, the scientists discovered that Akt is only active while bound to a small molecule on cell membranes called PIP3. Engagement of PIP3 allows Akt to bind and phosphorylate its targets. Conversely, when Akt is not bound to PIP3, it remains inactive. The levels of PIP3 therefore act as a gatekeeper to Akt’s activity, being the pressure on the gas pedal in the aforementioned analogy.
In addition to its proportional activation, Akt activity must also be locally confined, as an activated Akt phosphorylating targets indiscriminately would be detrimental to the cell’s health – just as a car speeding off without the driver behind the wheel is likely to cause an accident.
The researchers were able to demonstrate, for the first time, that active Akt is confined to cellular membranes. When “floating” freely inside the cell, Akt is inactivated and unable to phosphorylate any targets.
This means that active Akt is essentially a membrane-bound molecule. These results were corroborated by experiments both in test tubes and inside live cells. Read more


NATURTALENTE 2017 KICK-OFF

This January, the University of Vienna’s NaturTalente program has started for the third time. The initiative is carried out in cooperation with UNIPORT, the career service of the University of Vienna. 
NaturTalente provides an exclusive setting for a fruitful exchange between STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) students and partner companies. This is especially interesting for students wishing to shift their focus from an academic career to one in business and industry. Established in 2015, this year’s program will have 32 attendees, including six MFPL scientists: Benedikt Agerer, Irena Corbic-Ramljak, Daniel Elsner, Dhaarsini Koneswarakantha, Tabea Reitinger and Amelie Schoenenwald. Read more

 

Twice a year, students and employees of Austrian universities are able to purchase "u:book" notebooks at a reduced price, for a limited period of time only. The u:book store is open from February 20th until March 19th. Find more information on the "u:book"-website.

Science and Business Award
27 February 2017

Klaus-Tschira-Preis
28 February 2017

ERA-Net Neuron: „Synaptic Dysfunction in Disorders of the CNS“  
14 March 2017

ERACoSysMed: Call for European Research Projects on Systems Medicine
17 March 2017

Innovative Medicine Initiative
28 March 2017

ERA-NET IraSME – 19th Call 
29 March 2017

Herzfelder Familienstiftung
31 March 2017

Hochschuljubiläumsstiftung der Stadt Wien 
31 March 2017

FWF-MOST: Call for Joint Research Projects and Joint Seminars
31 March 2017

FFG Marie Skłodowska-Curie: RISE 
5 April 2017

Joint Programming Initiative: "Interrelation of the Intestinal Microbiome, Diet and Health
5 April 2017

Horizon 2020: Information and Communication Technologies 
25 April 2017

WWTF Life Sciences Call: Chemical Biology
27 April 2017

Fulbright Austrian Student Program
1 May 2017

ERC Advanced Grant
Call opens: 16 May 2017
Deadline: 31 August 2017

FFG COST
7 September 2017

Erasmus+ Programme
4 October 2017

Further information on grants and open calls of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna.

A warm welcome goes to Ricardo Mauricio Gudino Carrillo who started as technician in Alwin Köhler’s lab, and Daniela Zwolanek who started as lab manager in Javier Martinez’s lab. We also welcome Theresa Zekoll, who started her PhD in Kristin Tessmar-Raible's lab.
 

 

On March 2nd, the premiere of Winter is coming - the science behind Game of Thrones by the Austrian cabaret group "Science Busters" will take place at Stadtsaal. Tickets are available online.

The 10th edition of the Art Austria will be held at Palais Liechtenstein from 24th-26th of March. Visitors will be guided through the exhibition in groups.
 


MFPL PUBLICATIONS

Instrument design and protocol for the study of light controlled processes in aquatic organisms, and its application to examine the effect of infrared light on zebrafish.
Dekens MP, Foulkes NS, Tessmar-Raible K.
PLoS One. 2017 Feb 17;12(2):e0172038.

Deciphering the RAS/ERK pathway in vivo.
Dorard C, Vucak G, Baccarini M.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2017 Feb 8;45(1):27-36. 
 
Canonical and Non-Canonical Aspects of JAK-STAT Signaling: Lessons from Interferons for Cytokine Responses.
Majoros A, Platanitis E, Kernbauer-Hölzl E, Rosebrock F, Müller M, Decker T.
Front Immunol. 2017 Jan 26;8:29.
 
PI(3,4,5)P3 Engagement Restricts Akt Activity to Cellular Membranes.
Ebner M, Lučić I, Leonard TA, Yudushkin I.
Mol Cell. 2017 Feb 2;65(3):416-431.e6.
 
Localization of mTORC2 activity inside cells.
Ebner M, Sinkovics B, Szczygieł M, Ribeiro DW, Yudushkin I.
J Cell Biol. 2017 Feb;216(2):343-353
 
RNA binding and chaperone activity of the E. coli cold-shock protein CspA.
Rennella E, Sára T, Juen M, Wunderlich C, Imbert L, Solyom Z, Favier A, Ayala I, Weinhäupl K, Schanda P, Konrat R, Kreutz C, Brutscher B.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Jan 26. pii: gkx044.
 
Functional Display of Ice Nucleation Protein InaZ on the Surface of Bacterial Ghosts.
Kassmannhuber J, Rauscher M, Schöner L, Witte A, Lubitz W.
Bioengineered. 2017 Jan 25:0. 
 
Beyond Atg8 binding: the role or AIM/LIR motifs in autophagy.
Fracchiolla D, Sawa-Makarska J, Martens S.
Autophagy. 2017 Jan 25:0.
 
Sec3 promotes the initial binary t-SNARE complex assembly and membrane fusion.
Yue P, Zhang Y, Mei K, Wang S, Lesigang J, Zhu Y, Dong G, Guo W.
Nat Commun. 2017 Jan 23;8:14236. 


Publications for the MFPL newsletter are collected from PubMed on a monthly basis. However, to ensure that your publication(s) is/are entered into the MFPL publication database and appear on the MFPL website, notify publications@mfpl.ac.at with the following information: PubMed ID (or alternatively all authors, title, journal), information on MFPL authors, and type of publication.


MFPL ALUMNI 
ALEXANDER LORENZ

After studying botany and genetics in Vienna and Cologne, I gladly accepted the opportunity Josef Loidl offered me in 1999 to study for a PhD in genetics on nuclear architecture in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Before finishing my PhD in 2003, Josef and I developed a project on Schizosaccharomyces pombe meiosis to fund me staying on in his lab as a postdoc. During this exciting project we demonstrated the evolutionary conservation of meiosis-specific chromosome axis components.
My successful and enjoyable time in Josef’s lab taught me the importance of reproducibility studies and also allowed me to pursue my own research ideas with a healthy measure of independence.
In 2005, I secured an FWF Erwin-Schrödinger-Fellowship and moved on to Oxford to study molecular mechanisms of meiotic recombination with Matthew Whitby. I stayed in Oxford until 2013, when I got offered a lectureship at the University of Aberdeen, where I also received tenure in 2016. Currently, my lab studies how meiotic recombination outcome is regulated by genetic and influenced by environmental factors.


UNRAVELLING THE FIRST STEP OF VESICLE FUSION

Vesicles are small, fluid filled structures that are surrounded by a lipid double layer. They are vital for many cellular and physiological processes, as they carry or secrete cellular cargo such as waste, hormones or neurotransmitters.
To fulfil their tasks, vesicles need to fuse with target membranes inside or outside of the cell. This is enabled by members of the SNARE protein family, often referred to as the “SNARE complex”. These SNARE proteins can be classified according to their location: v-SNAREs are associated with the vesicle membrane, whereas t-SNAREs can be found in the target membrane. During vesicle fusion, the SNARE complex acts like a zipper that brings the vesicle and the target membrane close enough to each other to allow them to fuse. However, exactly how this process is initiated remained elusive.
The team around MFPL researcher Gang Dong in collaboration with scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have now reported the discovery of the mechanism behind the first step of the assembly of the SNARE complex during vesicle fusion in Nature Communications.
To allow SNARE-mediated fusion, vesicles first need to be tethered to the plasma membrane. This is carried out by the exocyst complex that is made up of eight different proteins, one of which is Sec3. The team reports that Sec3 directly interacts with the t-SNARE protein Sso2, much like two pieces of a 3D puzzle. This interaction leads to changes in the Sso2 structure, thus enabling the next steps of vesicle fusion.
To Gang Dong, the team’s recent publication is a great example for the importance of scientific collaborations, as the combined expertise of different scientists was essential for their discovery of the previously unknown first step in membrane fusion.
Collecting knowledge about SNARE-mediated vesicular fusion is valuable for biomedical research, since defects in membrane fusion have been implicated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease and disorders of the immune system. Read more


IVA LUCIC AWARDED DISSERTATION COMPLETION FELLOWSHIP 

Many congratulations to Iva Lucic on her Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the University of Vienna!
The scholarship offers financial support to PhD students during the completion of their theses, for up to a period of six months.
Iva, pursuing her PhD studies in the lab of MFPL researcher Thomas Leonard, is in the process of putting the finishing touches to her thesis entitled “Role of lipid second messengers in the activation of Protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) and Protein kinase C (PKC)”. She is planning to complete her thesis by March of this year. 
The Dissertation Completion Fellowship is awarded to PhD students across all disciplines with an exceptional study record, successful publications and conference presentations. The awardees are then selected by a panel of experts appointed by the Rectorate of the University of Vienna. This year, out of 31 applications, Iva was awarded one of 12 fellowships. Very well done! Read more
Events

02/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
VBC Regular Seminar
Transporting cargo over long distances: insights from dynein/dynactin structures
Andrew Carter

IMBA/GMI Lecture Hall
 
03/03/2017, 12:30-13:30
GMI Seminar
DNA methylation, transposable elements and heritable phenotypic variation
Vincent Colot

GMI Orange Seminar room
 
06/03/2017, 10:00-11:00
GMI Seminar
Zooming into the nuclear sphere: T-DNA live imaging and Polycomb-mediated chromatin dynamics
Idan Pereman

GMI Orange Seminar room
 
09/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
VBC Regular Seminar
Genome organization in single cells
Jop Kind

IMBA/GMI Lecture Hall
 
10/03/2017, 12:30-13:30
GMI Seminar
Recycling systems in cell state switching
Morten Petersen

GMI Orange Seminar room
 
14/03/2017, 09:00-10:00
DK RNA Biology Seminar
Transforming U: the modification of uridine in RNA to pseudouridine and 4-thiouridine
Eugene G. Mueller

IMP Lecture Hall
 
15/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
Impromptu Seminar
The power of ONE: Immunology in the age of single cell genomics
Ido Amit

IMP Lecture Hall
 
16/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
VBC Regular Seminar
Membrane protein structure in lipid bilayer by single particle cryo-EM
Yifan Cheng

IMBA/GMI Lecture Hall
 
17/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
DK and SFB Chromosome Dynamics Seminar
Title to be announced
JoAnne Engebrecht

IMP Lecture Hall
 
22/03/2017, 15:00-16:00
Impromptu Seminar
Title to be announced
Shawn Je

IMBA/GMI Lecture Hall
 
23/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
VBC Regular Seminar
Genome transcription: from molecules to systems
Patrick Cramer

IMP Lecture Hall
 
30/03/2017, 11:00-12:00
VBC Regular Seminar
Pattern Formation and Regeneration in a Single Cell
Wallace Marshall

IMBA/GMI Lecture Hall


For further meetings and events check the EMBO meetings, Nature’s events directory and Cell Symposia websites!


Policies, guidelines, templates, and information material (annual reports, logo files, living in Vienna etc.) can be found on the infoshare of the MFPL Intranet.

Please inform the communications team of your upcoming publications and news by e-mail to communications@mfpl.ac.at 



 
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