Our Research Areas

The IMPRS-CBP brings together researchers who share a common goal: to understand how the cell’s molecular building blocks give rise to dynamic, functional structures across scales. Cells continuously reshape their membranes, organize vast macromolecular assemblies, and coordinate intricate signalling events to maintain homeostasis and respond to changing environments. These processes involve both precise biochemical regulation and emergent physical principles, making cellular biophysics an inherently interdisciplinary field that bridges molecular biology, structural biology, physics, and computational science.
 

Our program integrates these perspectives through close collaboration among experimental and theoretical groups across the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Goethe University Frankfurt, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. Together, our faculty and students investigate how molecular activities translate into the architecture and behaviour of subcellular systems.

 

Membrane Shaping and Content Regulation in Cells

Membrane dynamics are essential for nearly all cellular functions. Cells sculpt and remodel their membranes across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the rapid formation of autophagic membranes to long-term changes in mitochondrial ultrastructure.

A major focus of the IMPRS-CBP is autophagy, the cell’s recycling system for damaged or membrane-associated components. Despite its importance, how autophagic membranes first emerge and selectively engulf specific substrates is not yet fully understood. Our faculty studies:

• Molecular signals regulating autophagy (Dötsch, Đikić)
• Subcellular progression of autophagy pathways (Wilfling, Beck)
• Molecular modeling of autophagic processes (Bhaskara, Hummer)

We also study transport across and between membrane-enclosed compartments, which determines organelle composition, size, and function. Membrane architecture is closely linked to cellular physiology, and our researchers explore these connections from different angles:

• Apoptotic effects on mitochondrial membranes (García-Sáez, Ros)
• Membrane protein structure and interactions (Murphy, Morgner, Pos)
• Transport across the nuclear envelope (Beck, Hampölz)
• Small-molecule transport across organelle membranes (Hänelt, Pos)
• Signalling between organelles, especially mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (Stephan, McDowell)

Molecular Signalling in Subcellular Architecture

Cells build, maintain, and remodel their internal structures through tightly controlled molecular signalling events. These pathways operate at many levels, ranging from cytosolic signals to membrane-embedded sensors, organelle communication, and cell-to-cell signaling.

IMPRS-CBP groups study these processes across diverse conceptual and technical perspectives:

• Cytosolic signalling pathways (Đikić, Knapp, Dötsch)
• Intrinsically disordered proteins and phase behavior (Lemke, Stelzl)
• Membrane-associated signalling mechanisms (Glaubitz, Hänelt, Heilemann, Langer, Hummer, Covino, Bhaskara)
• Communication between organelles (Đikić, Wilfling, Beck, Stephan, García-Sáez)
• Intercellular signalling (Acker-Palmer, Frangakis)

These topics intersect with central questions in human health, including:

• Neurovascular integrity (Acker-Palmer)
• Neurodegenerative disease and cancer biology (Gottschalk, Đikić, Schwierz-Neumann, Langer, Schuman, Dormann, Münch)
• Host-pathogen interactions and infection biology (Hänelt, Đikić, Beck, Hummer)

This theme captures how molecular signals shape cellular architecture and how their dysregulation contributes to disease.

 

Self-Organization in the Biogenesis of Macromolecular Assemblies

Many essential cellular structures, including ribosomes, nuclear pores, autophagosomes, and endocytic sites, form through self-organizing principles that govern how molecules assemble into higher-order complexes.

IMPRS-CBP faculty investigate these pathways at multiple scales:

• Biogenesis and turnover of major macromolecular assemblies (Beck, Frangakis, Hampölz, Wilfling, Kim)
• Structural and functional analysis of supramolecular complexes (Beck, Hummer, Hampölz, Frangakis, Heilemann, Wilfling, Langer, Lemke, Morgner, Covino, Kim)

To understand how these assemblies emerge, our researchers apply frameworks from physics and quantitative biology, including:

• Polymer physics
• Phase transitions and material properties
• Biomolecular condensates and mesoscale organization
  (Schmid, Lemke, Beck, Covino, Hummer, Hampölz, Stelzl)

These efforts are complemented by expertise in RNA biology and local translation, which shape the composition of many dynamic, membrane-less organelles (Beck, Müller-McNicoll, Dormann).

Integrative approaches based on a broad methodological repertoire

This research relies on collaborations and the integration of various different methods to allow monitoring molecular functions within life cells and to bridge across different length scales. Methods taught at the IMPRS include but are not limited to biochemistry and cell biology (Acker-Palmer, Đikić, Gottschalk, Hampölz, Müller-McNicoll), cryoEM and cryoET (Beck, Frangakis, Murphy, McDowell, Turoňová, Vonck, Welsch), NMR (Dötsch, Glaubitz, Schlundt), X-ray crystallography (Dötsch, Hänelt, Knapp), mass spectrometry (Beck, Langer, Morgner, Münch), single molecule biophysics (Heilemann, Lemke, Kim), optogenetics (Gottschalk), yeast genetics (Wilfing), animal model systems (Acker-Palmer, Gottschalk, Hampölz), life imaging and advanced light microscopy (García-Sáez, Hampölz, Heilemann, Kim, Lemke, Stephan), large scale sequencing (Müller-McNicoll), image processing (Frangakis, Turoňová) and computational modeling (Covino, Hummer, Köfinger, Schmid, Stelzl, Bhaskara).  

Together, this theme explores how macromolecular assemblies arise from fundamental molecular principles and how their properties define cellular architecture.