News from the Institute

IBC2 research fellow Heike Angerer found a key role of accessory subunit LYRM6/NDUFA6 in energy conversion by eukaryotic respiratory complex I. These results have been recently published in Nature Communications.
In an integrated approach combining biochemistry, structural biology and multiscale molecular simulations, researchers from IBC2 and from the group of Vivek Sharma at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, found that specific interactions of LYRM6/NDUFA6 with core subunits are indispensable for the function of mitochondrial complex I. 

Throughout Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll, with devastating infection and death rates, economic crisis, psychologic consequences of isolation and existential anxiety. Governments throughout Europe are struggling to develop sustainable strategies for crisis management, leave alone coming towards a common European approach. Scientists throughout Europe have now signed a petition to urge European governments to agree on clear goals, define common actions and coordinate their efforts in fighting the pandemic.

For the third year in a row, IBC2 Director Ivan Đikić is recognized as one of the pioneers in his field on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list. His papers rank in the top 1% by citations in the field of “Molecular Biology & Genetics”. In previous years, he was honored for his exceptional performance in the “Molecular Biology & Genetics” and the “Cross-Field” sections.

Christian Münch, group leader at the Institute of Biochemistry II of Goethe University Frankfurt, won the Binder Innovation Prize 2020 awarded by German Society for Cell Biology. It recognizes his groundbreaking work on translation control by stress responses for which he developed novel methodology and that also provided new insight into the biology of SARS-CoV-2.

New therapeutic targets preventing SARS-CoV-2 replication.

Researchers around IBC2 Group Leader Christian Münch comprehensively analyzed the response of human host cells to SARS-CoV-2 infection and identified growth factor receptor (GFR) signaling as essential for SARS-CoV-2 replication. GFR signaling plays important roles in various diseases. Five different drugs targeting GFR signaling prevented production of SARS-CoV-2 particles in cells. These results are now published in Molecular Cell.