User:Dirk Fasshauer

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Research group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. Interests: The molecular machineries involved in the principal aspects of vesicular trafficking are highly conserved among eukaryotes. Key players during the fusion of a transport vesicle with the acceptor membrane are the so-called SNARE proteins. They operate via a fundamental mechanism: sequential assembly into membrane-bridging complexes is thought to pull the membranes together. The central SNARE fusion machinery is regulated by a variety of other conserved factors. We are studying the protein-protein interaction network involved in the fusion of transport vesicles with the target membrane, particularily during secretion. We also interested in the evolutionary changes of the intracellular trafficking pathways during the transition to multicellularity. For this we are studying the secretory apparatus of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis (e.g. Kloepper et al. 2008, Mol.Biol.Evol. 25:2055-68). For more details about our research, please see here: http://www.mpibpc.mpg.de/groups/fasshauer/fassh_main.htm