Dieter H. Wolf's Group (»Add to Infobox)

General description: Dieter H. Wolf’s group is concerned with intracellular regulation and protein quality control via the ubiquitin proteasome system. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae serves as a model eukaryote for these studies. As the "housekeeping” functions of eukaryotic cells are highly conserved from yeast to man, the easy amenability of yeast to all biological tools ranging from biochemistry to genomics makes this organism a superior eukaryotic working horse. Studies on cellular regulation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system focus on the most important cellular nutrient and signalling molecule, the sugar glucose and the regulation of its major cellular pathways, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. They center in the elucidation of glucose signal transduction and the catabolite degradation of the regulatory enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase of the gluconeogenetic pathway. Protein quality control and elimination of malfolded proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum (ERQD) and the cytoplasm (CQD) by the ubiquitin proteasome system is another focus of research. The high importance for the necessity to understand the mechanisms of these processes is underlined by the fact that many protein folding diseases of man, as are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis etc. or BSE in cattle, are due to a malfunctioning of ERQD and CQD or due to synthesis of mutated proteins, which become substrates of the system. Role in RUBICON: Dieter Wolf’s group will provide the yeast technology to the RUBICON group. Especially the group will center their studies on yeast genomics in the elucidation of components of the protein quality control and elimination systems of the endoplasmic reticulum and the cytoplasm. In close cooperation with the group of Thomas Sommer, Berlin, the mechanistic aspects of protein quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum, the retrograde transport of malfolded proteins from the ER to the cytoplasm and their delivery path to the proteasome will be elucidated.

MEMBERS (15/15)

Wolf Dieter H. (Principal Investigator / Dieter H. Wolf's Group)