Symposium 2025 - From Single Molecules to Cell Functions in Biomembranes
Düsseldorf, 02.-04. April 2025
Dear colleagues and friends,
It is a pleasure to invite you to the Symposium "From Single Molecules to Cell Functions in Biomembranes"!
Biological membranes are one of the most important hallmarks of life. They are the ubiquitous envelopes of cells and organelles and thus host the communication between cells and within networks. They are composed of a complex mixture of lipids, embedded integral or peripheral membrane proteins, and carbohydrates and maintain a non-equilibrium state with continuous component exchange. Thus, biomembranes enable a sensitive and robust response to external and internal stimuli and hence allow for the flow of information, passage of nutrients, and to initiate and maintain further cells functions.
To elucidate the various functions of biological membranes is a central field of research and new techniques and methodologies are being developed to monitor these processes on a single molecule up to a systemic level. In this Symposium we will cover recent developments in the field of biomembrane research and associated cellular functions, such as
- Membrane and Cell Biophysics
- Synthetic Organelles and Biomimetic Membranes
- Protein-Membrane Interactions and Transport
- Method Development / Single Molecule Techniques
We expect to bring together young and established scientists from Europe in an inspiring environment of scientific exchange and discussion.
Confirmed Invited Speakers
- Xevi Casadevall I Solvas, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Christian Eggeling, Jena University, Germany
- Ulrike Endesfelder, Bonn University, Germany
- Ana García-Sáez, MPI of Biophysics, Germany
- Gerhard Hummer, MPI of Biophysics, Germany
- Petya V. Krasteva, Université Bordeaux, France
- Rudolf Merkel, Research Centre Jülich, Germany
- Jacob Piehler, Osnabrück University, Germany
- Ma. Florencia Sánchez, Münster University, Germany
- Gerhard Schütz, TU Vienna, Austria
- Petra Schwille, MPI Biochemistry Munich, Germany
- Evan Spruijt, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
The symposium will take place from April 02-04, 2025 at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf.
Programme
Detailed Programme (Speakers / Title / Abstracts)
| 12:00h | Registration Opens | |
| 13:00h | Welcome and Opening Remarks | |
| Session 1 | Chair: Cornelia Monzel | |
| 13:15-14:00h | Rudolf Merkel "Fusogenic Liposomes – Use and Search for the Function Principle" | |
| 14:00-14:30h | Contributed Talk: Sarina Veit “Dissecting the regulation of ATP-dependent lipid transporters” | |
| 14:30-15:15h | Maria Florencia Sanchez “Ligand-free confinement for receptor activation and signal transduction” | |
| 15:15h-15:45h | Coffee Break | |
| Session 2 | Chair: Alexej Kedrov | |
| 15:45h-16:30h | Xevi Casadevall i Solvas "Strategies to provide structure, shape and division capacity to artificial cells" | |
| 16:30h-17:15h | Ana García-Sáez “Mitochondrial pores in apoptosis” | |
| 17:15h-18:00h | Petra Schwille “Designing a minimal divisome” | |
| Symposium Dinner at “Maharaja” (for all invited speakers and organizers) | ||
| Session 3 | Chair: Birgit Strodel | |
| 09:00h-09:45h | Evan Spruijt | |
| 09:45h-10:15h | Marten Exterkate "Novel insights into the lipid divide – bacterial lipid synthesis with archaeal lipid backbone stereospecificity" | |
| 10:15h-10:45h | Coffee Break | |
| Session 4 | Chair: Birgit Strodel | |
| 10:45h-11:30h | Petya V. Krasteva | |
| 11:30h-12:00h | Alexej Kedrov "Seeing is believing: Membrane protein biogenesis by the ancestral machinery" | |
| 12:00h-13:00h | Lunch | |
| Session 5 | Chair: Marten Exterkate | |
| 13:00h-13:45h | Ulrike Endesfelder "Insights into Microbial Inner Life Using Single-Molecule Microscopy" | |
| 13:45h-14:15h | Claus Seidel “Multi-modal fluorescence image spectroscopy maps proteins and protein-protein interactions in cells” | |
| 14:15h-15:00h | Christian Eggeling | |
| 15:00h-15:30h | Poster Flash Talks | |
| 15:30-17:00h | Postersession with Coffee Break | |
| 17:00h-18:30h | Social event - Historic Centre Guided Tour | |
| 18:30h- | Free evening (brewhouse / japanese restaurant) | |
| Session 6 | Chair: Holger Gohlke | |
| 09:00h-09:45h | Jacob Piehler “Multiscale spatiotemporal dynamics of cytokine receptor dimers in living cells” | |
| 09:45h-10:30h | Gerhard Schütz, “How T-cells probe antigen - a single molecule perspective” | |
| 10:30h-11:00h | Coffee Break | |
| Session 7 | Chair: Claus Seidel | |
| 11:00h-11:30h | Holger Gohlke | |
| 11:30h-12:00h | Birgit Strodel "Unraveling the Dynamics and Membrane Binding of Guanylate Binding Proteins and Dynamin-like Proteins: Insights from Simulations" | |
| 12:00h-12:45h | Gerhard Hummer | |
| 12:45h-13:00h | Concluding Remarks | |
| 13:00h- | Lunch and Departure | |
Venue
The symposium will be held in the new biology building Nr.: 26.24. Lecture Hall 6L
Hotel recommendations:
We wish you all an interesting and insightful stay at Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf!
Cornelia Monzel and the Co-Organizers: Marten Exterkate, Holger Gohlke, Alexej Kedrov, Siegrun Land, Claus Seidel, Birgit Strodel, Stephanie Weidtkamp-Peters