Primary ciliary signaling and function
Biophysical Imaging
Institut für Angeborene Immunität, Abteilung Biophysical Imaging
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dagmar Wachten
The group Biophysical Imaging applies an interdisciplinary approach combining optogenetics, genetically-encoded biosensors, high-resolution imaging, cell biology, systems biology, and biochemistry to answer a fundamental biological question – what is the physiological function of primary cilia.
Primary cilia are considered as sensory organelles that receive extracellular signals from the environment and transduce this information into a cellular response. Cyclic-nucleotide signaling has been proposed to be an evolutionary conserved signaling pathway, which acts not only in specialized sensory cilia but also in other cilia.
Methods
- Optogenetics
- high-resolution imaging
- in vivo models
- Optogenetics and genetically-encoded biosensors – stimulation and high-throughput read-outs using fluorescence plate reader or FACS
- confocal fluorescence microscopy and spinning-disk microscopy
