Research topics

Genomic parasites in compact genomes: Much of the work in our group is focussed on "social amoebae". For instance, we study the molecular mechanisms of position-specific integration of mobile genetic elements into the genomes of social amoebae, in particular Dictyostelium discoideum. The evaluation of such mechanisms may provide leads to the design retroviral gene therapy vectors with reduced genotoxicity.

Interecellular communication with glorin: We study the intercellular communication of certain social amoebae during the early multicellular development (i.e., aggregation of single cells). Many species use an extracellular signal molecule known as glorin and we are interested to uncover the molecular mechanisms of glorin-based signaling.

Multi-target ligands to inhibit NMDA receptors: We aim at identifying new potential drugs against neurodegenerative disorders such als Alzheimer's disease. In particular, we use cell-based assays to search for compounds that modulate the activities of NMDA receptors with different subunit composition.