Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences

With twelve Synergy Grants, the Max Planck Society claims top spot in the ERC ranking

A Göttingen research team has succeeded in visualizing the entire process of ovulation in mouse follicles in real time for the first time. The new live imaging technique allows to study ovulation with high spatial and temporal resolution and opens up new possibilities in fertility research.

MINFLUX microscopy allows the determination of distances within biomolecules using an optical microscope

It is not only nerve cells that produce harmful beta-amyloid proteins. Glial cells also contribute to this

Mitoribosomes are essential for the function of mitochondria, the power houses of our cells. Researchers in Göttingen have discovered how the human cell assembles mitoribosomes in a modular fashion.

Nothing works with incomprehensible code – not even a cell. Patrick Cramer is carrying out research on the enzyme that transcribes the DNA code to enable a protein to be synthesized from a gene. To do so, he relies on high-resolution microscopes and artificial intelligence.

It is thanks to magnetic resonance imaging MRI – and not least Jens Frahm – that doctors are better able to diagnose diseases among patients than they could 30 years ago. The research conducted by the Director of the non-profit making company Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen has succeeded in significantly improving the images made of the body. In the interim, the team from Goettingen has even been able to push MRI from photography to filming.

STED microscopes can produce extremely detailed images of everything from the transport of individual proteins or tiny membrane vesicles in living cells to the synapses of neurons or the skeletons of tumor cells. The technique was invented by Stefan Hell, Director at the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen and Medical Research in Heidelberg. Now, the spin-off company Abberior Instruments sells the highest-resolution fluorescence microscope on the market – and researchers at both the Institutes and the company continue to push the resolution to its ultimate limit: the single nanometer size scale of a molecule.

Evotec’s history illustrates that biotechnology made in Germany can set standards worldwide. The Max Planck Society is one of the company’s founders and continues to shape it to this day.

Egg and sperm cells are highly sensitive during their development. When, for example, there is an error in the way the genetic material is divided between the individual gametes, the resulting embryo will often either be nonviable or suffer from severe birth defects. Melina Schuh from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen wants to find out why egg maturation is so error-prone. The results of her research could one day help couples who are unable to have children.

Doctors and patients can thank magnetic resonance imaging – and not least Jens Frahm – for the fact that many diseases can now be diagnosed far more effectively than they could 30 years ago. The research carried out by the director of the Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH (non-profit) at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen has greatly simplified the process of capturing images of the body’s interior. Now the team from Göttingen wants to bring those images to life.

Ludwig II of Bavaria is a particularly striking example of how differently people’s internal clocks can tick. According to historical sources, the monarch usually conducted his government business at night and slept during the day. Whether the Fairy Tale King had a disorder that disrupted his sleep-wake rhythm is a matter even Gregor Eichele can only speculate about. Nevertheless, Eichele and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have gained much new insight into how the body’s natural timekeepers work.

More than one million people become infected with the AIDS virus HIV every year. In order to infect its host, the virus must not only enter a cell but also transport its genetic material into the cell nucleus and integrate it into a chromosome. We have now discovered that the capsid of the virus has evolved into a molecular transporter. As such, the capsid can directly pass a central line of defense of the nucleus, which otherwise protects against viral invaders. This smuggling strategy keeps the HIV genome hidden from the antiviral sensors in the cytoplasm.

Only one in three fertilizations results in the birth of a baby. Many embryos do not develop to term because they carry an incorrect number of chromosomes; they are aneuploid. We study how aneuploidy arises at the beginning of life. Aneuploidy in embryos is a main cause of pregnancy loss and infertility. It often results from chromosome segregation errors in the egg, but also frequently arises in the early embryo. Our recent work shows that aneuploidy often develops when the genetic material from both parents combines after fertilization. This is due to a remarkably inefficient process.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common hereditary neuropathy of the peripheral nervous system. So far no treatment is available. Using transgenic animal models, we have developed new therapeutic approaches which are currently being translated to humans, thus creating new therapeutic options for approximately 1.5 million affected CMT patients worldwide.

According to the current dogma in neuroscience, neurons in the brain must communicate actively with each other to establish functional networks. Recent results now demonstrate that neurons in a brain region that is critically involved in learning and memory processes can connect and form structurally normal networks without active signal transmission at their synaptic contact points.

Ion channels are membrane proteins that regulate cellular processes by transmitting signals across membranes. Thus it is not surprising that they are also involved in cancer. In this respect, Kv10.1 is the most intensively studied potassium channel. It is overexpressed in over 70% of all cancer forms, and its expression level is up- and down-regulated during the cell cycle. This genetic regulation happens at the centre of signalling cascades involved in cancer and cell division regulation. Consequently, Kv10.1 represents a novel target for cancer treatment.