Biophysics of Membrane Proteins
Please note that Sandro Keller was appointed Junior Professor for Biophysics at the Technische Universität Kaiserlautern in November 2009. He still has coworkers at the FMP. You can reach Sandro at the FMP as well as in Kaiserlautern:
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Fachbereich Biologie
Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße
67663 Kaiserslautern
Telefon: +49 631 2054908
Telefax: +49 631 2054895
E-Mail: sandro.keller
biologie.uni-kl.de
Research
Our group is applying thermodynamic approaches to elucidate the complex interplay between proteins and lipids in bilayer membranes and detergent micelles.
1. Highly specific contacts between transmembrane helices control the folding, oligomerisation, and intramembrane substrate binding of membrane proteins. We aim at understanding the underlying principles at a quantitative level:
- Which forces determine intramolecular interactions in membrane proteins?
- Can we derive the topology of membrane proteins from interhelical affinities?
- Which forces drive intermolecular interactions in the membrane environment?
2. Lateral membrane inhomogeneities (“lipid rafts”) are under intense investigation because of their physiological and pathological implications. We are interested in protein-induced domains that are too small to be visualised microscopically:
- How large and how stable are these protein-tethered membrane domains?
- How is the aggregational state of one leaflet coupled to that of the other leaflet?
- To which extent can peptides and proteins modulate membrane curvature?
