Self-organization of protein systems

We study mechanisms of protein self-organization, i.e. we want to find out how protein interact to give rise to living systems. 

Instead of looking at these phenomena in an intact cell, our group uses a “bottom-up” synthetic biology: we rebuild cellular processes from purified components in vitro.

For this aim, we combine biochemistry, fluorescence microscopy and quantitative image analysis to bridge the gap between molecular structures of protein complexes and their emergent biological functions.

We are particularly interested in the mechanisms of bacterial cell division and small GTPase signaling. We have close collaborations with bacterial cell biologists, structural biologists and soft matter physicists.

Our final aim is to understand the physico-chemical basis of the self-organization of the living cell.

The Loose Lab is part of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), located in Klosterneuburg, close to Vienna, Austria.

Our research is currently supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the European Research Council (ERC)