Two ERC grants for physics research on the cytoskeleton
FOM workgroup leader Prof.dr. Casper Hoogenraad receives a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant of two million euro for his research on the development of the cytoskeleton of neurons. Prof.dr. Marileen Dogterom and Prof.dr. Anna Akhmanova, also both FOM workgroup leaders, together receive an ERC Synergy grant of more than seven million euro for their project 'MODELCELL: Building a Model Cell to Achieve Control of Cellular Organization'. The ERC Synergy Grants are intended to enable interdisciplinary collaboration between excellent scientists.
Casper Hoogenraad
The research group of Hoogenraad has recently developed new imaging tools to visualize and manipulate the cytoskeleton and transport components in living neurons. With the ERC grant they will focus on the changes that occur within the microtubule cytoskeleton during the different stages of neuronal polarization and differentiation. The ultimate goal is to understand how cytoskeleton reorganizations control the development of neurons. Microtubules – tubular protein structures – play a crucial role in the development of all neurons in our body. They control the stability of neurons and are responsible for transporting building blocks throughout the cell. Hoogenraad: "If we get a better insight in how neurons develop and function in the brain, we might be able to understand better how diseases such as Alzheimer and ALS develop."
Marileen Dogterom and Anna Akhmanova
Akhmanova and Dogterom aim to understand the basic principles of internal cell organization. This knowledge will eventually make it possible to control essential cellular processes such as cell movement and division. "If you want to manipulate cells, for example to grow organs or to treat cancer, you have to understand how they function", says Akhmanova. In this Synergy program they focus on the cytoskeleton. They will use light to switch on or off the molecular interactions that control cytoskeletal organization, allowing them to manipulate the systems that they will study. Anna Akhmanova works at Utrecht University. Marileen Dogterom is currently employed at FOM Institute AMOLF and will start as of 1 January 2014 at Delft University of Technology.
Other researchers who will contribute to the program by bringing in additional expertise are: Prof.dr. Gijsje Koenderink, Prof.dr. Bela Mulder and Prof.dr. Pieter Rein ten Wolde (AMOLF) and Dr. Lukas Kapitein and Prof.dr. Sander van den Heuvel (Utrecht University).
More information
Marileen Dogterom +31 (0)20 754 71 35 News article AMOLF
Casper Hoogenraad +31 (0)30 253 45 85
About the research of Casper Hoogenraad: interview with Casper Hoogenraad, animation