Prof. Dr. Vsevolod Gurevich, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 8 – 12 October 2012, Leipzig University Arrestins are proteins which regulate the signalling and trafficking of hundreds of different G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR). But arrestins also interact with other classes of membrane receptors and over 20 diverse types of soluble signalling protein. Arrestins can block GPCR coupling to G proteins in two ways. But they can also modify gene expression by increasing the transcription of certain genes.Several arrestin-binding partners play a key role in the signalling pathways regulating cell proliferation, survival and apoptosis. Since multiple genetic disorders can be associated with excessive signalling by mutant G-protein-coupled receptors, arrestin is an interesting target for
Prof. Dr. Daniel Huster, University of Leipzig 2 -11 October 2012, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Due to the success of NMR studies on soluble molecules the original NMR spectroscopy on solid materials such as crystals, glasses, powders and polymers has long played an inferior role. However, in the last decade, solid-state NMR spectroscopy has widely been applied to complicated biological questions such as the study of aggregated and amyloidic protein states, membrane proteins, biological tissue or other molecular aggregates of large molecular mass. As there is no principle limit on the molecular mass of the investigated molecules and the fact that the resolution and sensitivity of the technique seems to constantly