ATH Zurich
ETH Zürich Hauptgebäude, Rämistrasse, Zürich, Switzerland
The Wieczorek Lab at the Institute of Molecular Biology & Biophysics at ETH Zurich investigates the physical principles underlying the self-assembly of complex intracellular structures from biomolecules. The group uses the microtubule cytoskeleton as a model system. We apply state-of-the-art methods in structural biology, in vitro biochemical reconstitutions, and single molecule biophysics to understand how diverse multi-microtubule assemblies form from a common tubulin “building block”. The results of our work are important for understanding the molecular basis of diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration, which are often directly linked to defects in microtubule network assembly.
Project background
Previously, we solved the structure of the gamma-tubulin ring complex (gamma-TuRC), a huge multiprotein assembly proposed to nucleate and organize microtubules in cells. We are broadly interested in exploring the following open...