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A PROJECT SUPPORTED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (DGXII) WITHIN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME; AREA STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
MIP channels comprise a family of proteins occuring in all types of organisms from bacertia to man. They are characterised by six transmembrane domains and some conserved regions.
MIP channels play central roles on cellular and organismal osmoregulation by transporting water and/or small solutes across biological membranes. The MIP channels from human, the aquaporins, are seen as a potential target for novel pharmaceuticals. Plant water transporters might be used to engineer drought tolerance. Microbial MIP channels not only serve as a convenient model system but might also be used in the engineering of metabolism as solute exporters. The aim of this project is to elucidate the structure-function relationship of MIP channels in order to unlock the exploitation potential of this unique protein family.
The project starts on 1 October 1998 and is funded for two years.
Coordinator: Stefan Hohmann, Göteborg University
Secretary: Sören Nielsen, Aarhus University
Academic groups in the project:
Dr. Stefan Hohmann
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology/Microbiology
Göteborg University
E-mail: hohmann@gmm.gu.se
Prof. Søren Nielsen
Department of Cell Biology
University of Århus
E-mail: sn@ana.aau.dk
Prof. Andreas Engel
M.E. Müller Institute for Microscopy
Biozentrum Basel
E-mail: aengel@ubaclu.unibas.ch
Prof. Christer Larsson, Dr. Per Kjellbom
Department of Plant Biochemistry
Lund University
E-mail: christer.larsson@plantbio.lu.se; per.kjellbom@plantbio.lu.se
Dr. Christophe Maurel
Institut des Sciences Vegetales
CNRS Gif-sur-Yvette
E-mail: maurel@cactus.isv.cnrs-gif.fr
Dr. Peter Deen
Department of Cell Physiology
Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen
E-mail: peterd@sci.kun.nl
Dr. Frédérique Tacnet, Dr. Pierre Ripoche
Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology
Centre d'Etudes de Saclay CEA
E-mail: tacnet@dsvidf.cea.fr; pierre.ripoche@cea.fr
Prof. Jan Rydström
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Chalmers University of Technology Göteborg
E-mail: jan.rydstrom@bcbp.gu.se
Dr. Helmut Grubmüller
Max-Planck-Institut fuer biophysikalische Chemie Göttingen
email: hgrub@mpibpc.gwdg.de
Prof. Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal
Department of Applied Microbiology
Lund University
E-mail: barbel.hahn-hagerdal@tmb.lth.se
Last updated: 25 September 1998