To understand how genes are regulated, researchers create genome-wide maps that connect regulatory proteins to their target sites on the DNA. This analysis is typically performed using “chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing” (ChIP-seq). With this method, the cell’s chromosomes are cut into small pieces, and an antibody is used to fish out those DNA fragments that are bound by the regulatory protein of interest. Unfortunately, ChIP-seq is a relatively complex protocol that requires a lot of cells, which makes it difficult to analyze some of the most interesting cell types – for example stem cells and cancer initiating cells.

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Recent scientific insights and technical breakthroughs strongly argue for a global, efficient approach to map the gene products that manage the interface between biological systems and their environment.

The proteins that transport nutrients and drugs across cellular membranes into cells and organisms have paradoxically not been studied in an orderly, efficient fashion, despite their clear importance. Recent work at CeMM on regulation of the mTOR pathway and mechanism of cancer drug resistance has identified two members of the large group of solute carrier proteins (SLCs) as critical for these processes (Rebsamen et al, Nature 2015; Winter…

Through the investigation of specific interaction partners of the leukemia-associated, truncated variant of C/EBPa, the research group of Giulio Superti-Furga, Scientific Director at CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, has gained new mechanistic insights into the molecular details of oncogenic transformation by C/EBPa mutant proteins. Florian Grebien, postdoctoral fellow in Superti-Furga´s team and since 2014 group leader at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, found that the short, leukemic C/EBPa mutant can exert its oncogenic functions through a selective interaction with Wdr5, a…

In an international study scientists from Kaan Boztug´s team at CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna, in close collaboration with the groups of Luigi Notarangelo at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Jean-Laurent Casanova at Rockefeller University, New York , have elucidated the molecular cause of a hitherto unrecognized inherited disorder of the immune system (primary immunodeficiency). Performing genetic and cellular immunological studies, the researchers identified biallelic mutations in DOCK2, a gene encoding a protein of critical importance for the cytoskeleton. Patients affected by this rare disease exhibit broad defects of immunity,…

On June 3rd, 2015 the CeMM Kapsel/Time Capsule a Science and Art project by Martin Walde and Giulio Superti-Furga was officially opened by Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Vienna City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science. The concept of the Time Capsule is based on Martin Walde´s interaction with CeMM´s research and philosophy and with the wish to create a “docking place” for artists of all branches within a biomedical research institute. The idea was to create a place where one, two or three people at a time can seclude to think or work in peace. The artist conceived the room as a safe haven and repository for ideas and thoughts that are…