Petra Schwille - Single molecule analysis in native and synthetic biological systems

Previous and current research

Our ambition is to understand living systems on the scale of individually active and interactive molecules such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. To this end, single molecule optical techniques as well as AFM are developed and combined (Fig. 1) to the point where static and dynamic molecular heterogeneity in cells and membranes can be resolved in real time.

To quantitatively understand the intricate relationships of biomolecules in their native environments, it is often required to reconstitute selected subsystems in biomimetic environments and investigate them under defined conditions. We particularly focus on the study of membrane proteins in controlled lipid environments to better comprehend the relevance of lipid domains in cellular membrane transformations. Therefore we utilize the Giant Unilamellar Vesicle (GUV) model system (Fig. 2).

Future prospects and goals

The immense potential of the GUV membrane system with regard to the reconstitution of functional proteins in controlled environments has inspired us to move on to new levels of complexity in such bottom-up approaches. In the framework of synthetic biology, we anchor cytoskeletal elements and/or cell walls to these membranes, establish cell free protein translation inside them, and power them by the reconstitution of ATP synthases. The very far goal of such approaches could be the in vitro reconstitution of a self replicating biomimetic system.

Selected publications

García-Sáez, A. J., Ries, J., Orzáez, M., Pérez-Payà, E. & Schwille, P. (2009): Membrane promotes tBID interaction with BCL(XL). Nat Struct Mol Biol 16 (2009) 1178 – 1185

Yu, S. R., Burkhardt, M., Nowak, M., Ries, J., Petrásek, Z., Scholpp, S., Schwille, P. & Brand, M. (2009): Fgf8 morphogen gradient forms by a source-sink mechanism with freely diffusing molecules. Nature 461 (2009) 533-536

Ries, J., Yu, S. R., Burkhardt, M., Brand, M. & Schwille, P. (2009): Modular scanning FCS quantifies receptor-ligand interactions in living multicellular organisms. Nat Methods 6 (2009) 643-645

Loose, M., Fischer-Friedrich, E., Ries, J., Kruse, K. & Schwille, P. (2008): Spatial regulators for bacterial cell division self-organize into surface waves in vitro. Science 320 (2008) 789-792

Schwille, P. & Diez, S. (2009) Synthetic biology of minimal systems. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol 44 (2009) 223-242

Petra Schwille

1996: PhD Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen/TU Braunschweig

1997-1999: Postdoctoral work at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

1999-2002: Junior group leader at the MPIbpc Göttingen

since 2002: Professor of Biophysics at the TU Dresden