Loose Group
Self-Organization of Protein Systems
How are nanometer-sized proteins able to perform complex functions on a cellular scale? The Loose group studies the molecular mechanisms of intracellular self-organization by rebuilding cellular functions in a bottom-up approach.
Although we often know which proteins are required for specific processes in the cell, how they act together to accomplish this task is not yet understood. Instead of looking at complex phenomena in an intact cell, the Loose group aims to rebuild cellular functions from purified components. This bottom-up approach allows for a better control of the experimental conditions and a quantitative characterization of the underlying molecular processes. Ultimately, this helps to identify the mechanistic principles that allow to give rise to living systems. The interdisciplinary approach of the Loose group combines biochemical reconstitution experiments with advanced fluorescence microscopy, biomimetic membrane systems, and computer-aided image analysis. They currently focus on two research questions: (1) What is the mechanism of bacterial cell division?, and (2) What are the emergent properties of small GTPase networks involved in membrane identity formation and vesicle transport?
Group Leader
Administrative Support
On this site:
Team
Current Projects
Self-organization of the bacterial cell division machinery | Emergent properties of small GTPase networks
Publications
Dunajova Z, Prats Mateu B, Radler P, Lim K, Brandis D, Velicky P, Danzl JG, Wong RW, Elgeti J, Hannezo EB, Loose M. 2023. Chiral and nematic phases of flexible active filaments. Nature Physics. View
Leonard TA, Loose M, Martens S. 2023. The membrane surface as a platform that organizes cellular and biochemical processes. Developmental Cell. 58(15), 1315–1332. View
Loose M, Auer A, Brognara G, Budiman HR, Kowalski LM, Matijevic I. 2023. In vitro reconstitution of small GTPase regulation. FEBS Letters. 597(6), 762–777. View
Radler P, Baranova NS, Dos Santos Caldas PR, Sommer CM, Lopez Pelegrin MD, Michalik D, Loose M. 2022. In vitro reconstitution of Escherichia coli divisome activation. Nature Communications. 13, 2635. View
Johnson AJ, Dahhan DA, Gnyliukh N, Kaufmann W, Zheden V, Costanzo T, Mahou P, Hrtyan M, Wang J, Aguilera Servin JL, van Damme D, Beaurepaire E, Loose M, Bednarek SY, Friml J. 2021. The TPLATE complex mediates membrane bending during plant clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118(51), e2113046118. View
ReX-Link: Martin Loose
Career
since 2021 Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2015 – 2021 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2011 – 2014 Departmental Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
2010 – 2011 Postdoc, TU Dresden and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
2010 PhD, TU Dresden and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
Selected Distinctions
2016 HFSP Young Investigator Grant
2015 ERC Starting Grant
2012 – 2014 HSFP Long-term fellowship
2011 – 2012 EMBO Long-term fellowship
2010 Dr. Walter Seipp Award for best dissertation at TU Dresden
2001 – 2009 Student and PhD Fellowship of the German National Scholarship Foundation
