10/2024
Stefanie Janzen and Maximilian Adams started their Bachelor projects in our group this month! Stefanie will work together with Sarah on the interactions of protein complexes by chemical cross-linking and Maximilian will work with Elisa on the use of phospholipases to study the architecture of lipid membranes. Good luck and enjoy the time in our lab...!
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Our Cover suggestion was selected for Structure! The cover was prepared by Julian and shows the Synaptotagmin-1 C2A and C2B domains binding to model lipid bilayers mimicking the synaptic plasma membrane (C2B) and the synaptic vesicle membrane (C2A). A native mass spectrum of Synaptotagmin-1 binding to DOPS at different stoichiometries is shown below the plasma membrane plane. The paper can be accessed on the journal website. |
09/2024
The 4th Fall Meeting of the DGMS Young Scientists took place at Kloster Hünfeld. Elisa and Sarah participated in the meeting and presented their projects during the poster sessions... 
09/2024
This years away day was organised by Julia... We went on a hiking trip around Mainz (Kleiner Mainzer Höhenweg) and enjoyed the different sceneries from Forsthaus Ober Olmer Wald through Lennebergwald till Mainz-Mombach. On the way, we enjoyed the breaks and other entertainment. Ship ahoy!
09/2024
Zahra Riazimand started her PhD project in our group this month! She will work on the architecture of the active zone of the pre-synapse and its multivalent interactions. The project is part of CRC1551 and will be conducted in collaboration with Jasper Michels. We wish Zahra a successful PhD time!
08/2024
Our new paper on Synaptotagmin-1 is out! In this paper, we follow a multidisciplinary approach and characterize lipid and membrane binding of the isolated C2A and C2B domains of Synaptotagmin-1. Combining experiments with molecular dynamics simulations allowed us to propose a mechanism for synaptotagmin-1 during membrane fusion. For detailed information, access the paper on the journal website.
08/2024
The "Equal Opportunities" Booklet of the BEAM RTG is now available! The booklet aims at inspiring young girls and women to pursue a career in the STEM field. In this booklet, the female doctoral students, student talents and principal investigators of BEAM reported on their experiences, their careers, their highs and their lows. As a PI of BEAM, Carla contributed to the booklet. The booklet can be downloaded from the BEAM website.
08/2024
Elisa and Sarah attended the Brixen Proteomics Summer School.... In several talks, lectures, tutorials and workshops, they advanced their knowledge in state-of-the-art proteomics and applications in life sciences. In two poster sessions, Elisa and Sarah presented their own results and had the chance to network with colleagues in the field... They enjoyed several free-time activities in the mountains of South Tyrol! Carla visited the summer school for a lecture in native mass spectrometry and cross-linking.
07/2024
Carla visited the Heinrich Heine University (HHU) Düsseldorf for an INSPIRE career talk and a research talk. INSPIRE career talks are organized in cooperation between CEPLAS, CRC 1208, and MibiNet at HHU and aim for increasing the visibility of women in science and to present potential role models to young female scientists. Carla talked about the different steps in her career, challenges and drawbacks.... In the afternoon, she also presented and discussed the research of our group.
06/2024
The 72nd ASMS conference took place in Anaheim (Los Angeles), California, U.S.A. Julia, Til and Carla enjoyed a great conference with lots of interesting talks, more than 1,000 poster every day and many other conference events. Til and Julia presented their projects in one of the poster session... 
05/2024
We are happy that Dr. Gihyun Sung is joining our lab! Gihyun obtained his PhD from Postech, South Korea, on the development of new proteomics platforms for identification of non-covalent interactions between different biomolecules. Gihyun will use his experiences to identify protein interactions of synaptic proteins in vivo.
05/2024
We have a PhD position available! The job announcement is available in German or English for further information. We also have a job opening for team adminstration. For further information, please contact Carla directly.
04/2024
Today, we received the news that our project "Unraveling multivalent interactions in the pre-synapse" will be funded. The project is part of the recently established SFB1551 at JGU. Together with Jasper Michels (MPI for Polymer Research, Mainz), we will unravel the architecture of the active zone and study the phase behaviour of specific scaffold proteins. Our final goal is to contribute to the understanding of compartmentalization in the synapse and to unravel the functional role of multivalent interactions in well-orchestrated processes such as signal transmission.
04/2024
Til and Carla attended the BEAM retreat in Erfurt. Til gave a talk on the progress of our project A4. We enjoyed the discussion with the other RTG members and explored the beautiful city Erfurt...
04/2024
Elena Jung started her Bachelor's project in our group this month. She will work together with Julia on the interactions of synaptic vesicle proteins. Enjoy the time in our lab...!
03/2024
Sabine Wittig defended her PhD thesis at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Sabine was a PhD student at the interdisciplinary research center HALOmem. In her PhD project, she studied protein-protein interactions in synaptic vesicle membranes. The defence was a great success and a reunion of the group. Congratulations, Sabine!
03/2024
Julia, Til and Carla attended the 55th annual meeting of the German Society for Mass Spectrometry (DGMS) in Freising... Julia and Til presented their projects during a lively poster session 🙂 The conference dinner took place at the Planetarium Garching...
02/2024
Dr. Federico Uliana is joining our group as a guest scientist. Federico is a postdoc in Dorothee Dormann's lab at the Faculty of Biology and the IMB. He is contributing advanced proteomics experience to our group portfolio and will use structural mass spectrometry to study TDP-43.
02/2024
As an Add-On fellow of the Joachim Herz Stiftung, Julia attended the fellowship meeting in Hamburg this month. She presented her poster in a poster session and had lots of fun networking with the other fellowship holders.
01/2024
Elisa Badin started her PhD project this month! Elisa studied Chemistry in a double degree programm at the Universities of Padova, Italy, and Gießen, Germany. She will work on the identification of protein-lipid interaction sites by mass spectrometry.
12/2023
Oleksandr successfully denfed his thesis at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Oleksandr was a PhD student of the first cohort of the graduate school "Intrinsically Disordered Proteins - Molecular Principles, Cellular Functions and Diseases" (RTG2467)... Congratulations!
12/2023
Til's paper on peptide-lipid interactions was selecetd by the DGMS young scientists as research highlight and posted on X. You can find more information on this Christmas event here.
12/2023
Sarah Meyer joined our team this month! Sarah studied Biomedical Chemistry at the JGU and performed her Master thesis at AbbVie in Ludwigshafen. In her PhD project, Sarah will establish protein-lipid cross-linking strategies.
11/2023
Til's paper on solution and gas-phase interactions between peptides and lipids is published in Analytical Chemistry! Congratulations! For detailed information, please access the paper on the journal's website! 11/2023
11/2023
Our Q Exactive plus mass spectrometer aka Schneewittchen successfully moved to Mainz. We are currently setting up the LC-MS set-up and will hopefully soon start analysing samples 🙂 
10/2023
Julia was awarded an "Add-on Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Life Science" of the Joachim Herz Stiftung. The funding is aimed at PhD students and postdocs working on interdisciplinary research questions. With the Add-on fellowship, Julia will receive financial support over the next two years for conference visits, research stays, further training etc. Congratulations!
09/2023
Our Ultima mass spectrometer succesfully moved from MLU Halle to Mainz! We are happy that the show can go on 🙂 
09/2023
Julia attended the EMBO workshop on "Mechanisms of Membrane Fusion" in Göttingen. She presented her poster on SNARE complex regulation by Complexin-1 during the poster session.
09/2023
Til and Carla participated at the BEAM PhD day and symposium. Carla delivered a workshop on grant writing at the PhD day. Til and Carla both presented projects of our group at the BEAM symposium. For more information on the BEAM (Beyond Amphiphilicity: Self-Organization of Soft-Matter via Multiple Noncovalent Interactions) graduate school, click here.
09/2023
Julia visited the conference GBM compact: Focus on Proteomics in Frankfurt. She presented the work of her recent paper in a talk and on a poster... 
09/2023
Oleksandr Sorokin joined our team this month! Oleksandr was a PhD student in the graduate school "Intrinsically Disordered Proteins - Molecular Principles, Cellular Functions and Diseases" (RTG2467) at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and is now starting a Postdoc in our group. Welcome!
07/2023
Carla participated in a "Meet Female Scientists" event of the Open Day. Four female scientists were introducing their subject - pros and cons - and gave insights into their CV. Live on stage 🙂 More information on "Meet Female Scientists" can be found here. 
06/2023
Julian successfully denfed his thesis at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Congratulations! In his PhD project, Julian studied interactions of Synaptotagmin-1 with lipids and lipid membranes using various biophysical techniques including mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulations.
05/2023
Our first Away day took place on May 25th... Julia, Rita, Til and Carla visited the Opel Zoo in Kronberg... we had a great day out 🙂
05/2023
Til and Carla attended the BEAM RTG retreat in Weimar. Til chaired a session on biomolecular interactions. For more information on the BEAM RTG visit: https://beam.uni-halle.de/
05/2023
Welcome, Rita! Rita joined our team this month - we are looking forward to good team work!
02/2023
Julias Paper on the assembly of the SNARE complex is out! Congratulations!!
Visit https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-04548-0 for more information!
01/2023
Julia, Til and Carla presented the group projects at the Sanibel Conference “Membrane Proteins and Their Complexes: Mass Spectrometry and Beyond” of the ASMS in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA
