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About the Höning lab

Lisa Kowalski, Stefan Höning, Eva Cziudaj

Our research is devoted to the understanding of protein sorting in various intracellular transport pathways, including entry into cells by endocytosis, post-Golgi trafficking and transport to lysosomes, as well as biogenesis and turnover of lipid droplets.

Using biochemical assays on isolated proteins or vesicles, in combination with cell-based functional assays and together with structural analysis, we gain mechanistic insight into the function and regulation of the intracellular sorting machinery.

This is key to the understanding of a growing number of human diseases including atherosclerosis, hypopigmentation, various forms of inherited mental retardation, the Hermansky-Pudlak-Syndrome, or diverse lysosomal storage diseases.

Examples of Research and Methodology

The structure of the endocytic AP-2 complex was determined by x-ray crystallography. Its binding to a membrane was analyzed in vitro by using recombinant AP-2 expressed in bacteria and monitoring binding to liposomes with an SPR biosensor. Taken from Jackson et al., Cell 2010.

After 90s at 37°C, control cells have endocytosed Transferrin (green dots). Cells that lack AP-2 (AP2 KD) display Transferrin at the cell surface due to impaired endocytosis.

More than 1,300 proteins of the surface proteome are affected by loss of the endocytic AP-2 complex. Taken from Tobys et al., Traffic 2020.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Höning

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Höning

Deputy Director of the Center for Biochemistry, Principal Investigator

email

shoening(at)uni-koeln(dot)de

phone

0221 478 3656

details

Büro:

Dr. Jessica Pietsch
Tel.: +49 221 478 85398
Email: jessica.pietsch@uk-koeln.de

Expert data base of the Faculty of Medicine

Members (including students) of the Faculty of Medicine can access further information about our group in the expert data base.