Introduction
Our aim is to understand how cells control shape and size in relation to function.
Group head: Niels Galjart
Group members: Frank Sleutels (postdoc), Jeffrey van Haren (Ph. D. student), Ana Pereira (Ph. D. student), Soraya Verstraeten (Ph. D. student), Michael van der Reijden (technician), Widia Soochit (Master’s student), Lisa Caesar (Master’s student).
Research in my group focusses on two subjects:
- proteins that control behaviour of the microtubule cytoskeleton and
- factors that determine nuclear structure and output.
Our aim is to understand how cells control shape and size in relation to function.
1) Microtubules are highly dynamic cytoskeletal elements, required for a variety of cellular functions. A family of microtubule plus end tracking proteins (+TIPs) was identified that specifically associates with the ends of growing microtubules. We are interested in determining the mechanistic roles that these proteins play, both in the regulation of microtubule dynamics and in the interaction between microtubules and other intracellular structures.
2) It is generally accepted that the architectural organisation of the nucleus and regulation of transcription are functionally linked. We are interested in describing the constituents of nuclear and nucleolar chromatin and in the phenomenon of imprinting. We focus on multi-zinc finger transcription factors, in particular CTCF and CTCFL.
Ph. D. Position Available: we are looking for a talented and motivated Ph. D. student with interest in the field of neuronal microtubules, see link to Microtubules and Microtubule Associated Proteins and link to website Erasmus MC for a more extensive explanation.
