Celebrating numerous FWF Grants on campus

Manuel Matzinger, deputy head of the Proteomics Technology Hub
Single-cell multi-omics to uncover early neural asymmetry

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has awarded funding for a collaborative project led by Manuel Matzinger, deputy head of the Proteomics Technology Hub of IMP, IMBA and GMI and Viktoria Dorfer at the Research Center Hagenberg, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. The project aims to develop a workflow that allows researchers to analyse RNA and proteins from the same single cell, enabling a deeper understanding of how molecular processes shape cellular behaviour.

The project brings together expertise from across the Vienna BioCenter. Elly Tanaka (IMBA) contributes her neural tube organoid model, while Andreas Sommer (Next Generation Sequencing Facility, Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities) supports the transcriptomics work.

The team will combine automated methods for isolating single cells with improved approaches for measuring both proteins and RNA from the very same cell. In parallel, they will develop a computational platform that allows researchers to integrate and visualize these data. The software will be available as a web application and an R package, enabling scientists without specialized bioinformatics expertise to analyse their results.

Read more here

Kyojiro Ikeda, Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology
Dynamic microvilli and nanometric cellular 3D printing

Kyojiro Ikeda’s FWF project “Dynamic microvilli and nanometric cellular 3D printing” investigates how complex shapes arise at the subcellular scale by using bristle morphogenesis in bristle worms as a model. These bristles display stereotyped, species-specific submicron features, providing a tractable system to study the mechanisms of extracellular morphogenesis.

The central hypothesis is that a single bristle-forming cell “prints” the bristle in a 3D-printer-like process: dynamic patterns of F-actin–supported microvilli at the cell cortex mirror the profile of the bristle region under construction, while individual microvilli sculpt fine surface features. The actin-bundling factor espin is proposed to regulate microvillar elongation and disassembly during this process. The team will combine live super-resolution microscopy with microinjection of tagged espin constructs to visualize microvillar dynamics and test causality. This project will lead the way in molecular and cell biological analysis of submicron extracellular morphogenesis.

Pavel Kovarik
Programming the alveolar macrophage by mRNA decay

The project led by Pavel Kovarik investigates how specialized immune cells in the lungs, known as alveolar macrophages, rapidly switch between different functions during infection and tissue repair. These cells patrol the airways, fight invading microbes, recruit additional immune cells, and later help resolve inflammation and regenerate damaged tissue. However, it remains unclear how they can switch so quickly between these roles.

The project will be carried out in collaboration with the Lambrecht lab at Ghent University in Belgium. The Lambrecht team provides unique tools and expertise for models of macrophage transplantation that will allow the researchers to directly test how mRNA decay regulates these key immune cells in the lungs. Understanding these mechanisms is expected to provide new insights into inflammatory and infectious lung diseases.

Jonas Ries
Live-cell structural dynamics with MINFLUX

Jonas Ries and his team plan to develop a new super-resolution microscope capable of observing individual proteins in action inside living cells. While many existing methods reveal protein structures in purified or frozen samples, capturing their dynamic behavior in living cells remains a major challenge. 

The researchers will use the instrument to study kinesin, a tiny molecular motor that transports cellular cargo along microtubule tracks. By following individual kinesin molecules in living cells, the team hopes to uncover how the motor generates force, coordinates its two ‘legs’, and copes with the crowded interior of the cell. The project will also deliver an open-source microscope platform – including hardware design and software – that other laboratories can develop, helping to make cutting-edge live-cell single-molecule imaging more accessible while providing new insights into the mechanics of protein motion.

Read more about both projects here