GRK Guest Speaker: Dr. Achim Werner

Dr. Achim Werner, NIH/NIDCR, USA, a former fellow of Michael Rape, is visiting us on Monday, September 9th, 2019 to give a talk within our "GRK2243 Ubiquitin Club".

Date:         09.09.2019 - 5 pm s.t.

Location:  Rudolf-Virchow-Zentrum, Josef-Schneider-Str. 2, D15, 00.048

Topic:       “Dissecting neurodevelopmental diseases one ubiquitin linkage at a time”

About his research:
Mammalian development relies on the precise execution of highly coordinated cell-fate decisions by stem cells, which can undergo self-renewal, reversibly exit into a quiescent state, or terminally commit to a cell differentiation program. To orchestrate these decisions, stem cells make frequent use of ubiquitylation, an essential post-translational modificationthat alters the stability, activity, localization, or interaction landscape of target proteins. The Werner lab combines human genetics, hESC culture, proteomic, and biochemical approaches to determine the molecular mechanism of how ubiquitylation controls these cell-fate choices, in particular those involved in neural crest, craniofacial, and neuronal development.  We study ubiquitin E3 ligases and deubiquitylases (DUBs), i.e. enzyme classes that catalyze the deposition and removal of ubiquitin from substrates, respectively. We focus on those E3s/DUBs linked to human diseases of craniofacial and neuronal development. Results from these studies will provide molecular insights into important aspects of human development and into the origin of developmental diseases, which will be useful for developing novel therapeutic approaches.