Open Call for Proposals in Subprogram 4
Originally, the term collective refers to a social structure of living beings. However, the term is also used in the natural sciences to describe properties of matter not limited to living organisms, such as living cells or quantum materials. A frequently encountered concept is that of swarm intelligence, which is used across a wide variety of disciplines. A question that transcends disciplinary boundaries here is the emergence of decision-making processes within collectives. This is a topic that has so far been addressed in isolation within the natural sciences, medicine, the social sciences, and the humanities, and which is driving the development of current research approaches. A more detailed analysis, however, suggests the hypothesis that universally applicable rules of behavior can be identified across all fields, which lead to decisions by the respective collective.
Within the framework of the 7th subprogram, the interdisciplinary research groups are addressing various aspects of this topic.
Sponsored by
Principles of Development and Form in Biology
Understanding the principles of form formation (morphogenesis) is one of the central unresolved questions in biology. The goal of this project was to investigate the fundamental paradigm of how structured forms arise from homogeneous forms. Spatial biological forms can be mechanistically traced back to patterns of curvature in different cell layers. However, morphogenesis can only be fully understood through a quantitative analysis of the underlying network control of morphogen signals, cellular polarity, and biochemical and mechanical cell-cell interactions. In this project, the role of cellular polarity as the intersection of all these parameters during the critical moment of symmetry breaking in homogeneous epithelia was to be investigated. Two model organisms from developmental biology were used: the freshwater polyp Hydra and the clawed frog Xenopus. The goal was to compare Hydra—the most evolutionarily basal multicellular genetic model organism—with the vertebrate Xenopus in order to identify the conserved molecular mechanisms of morphogenesis. By incorporating new mathematical modeling approaches, the mechanisms underlying the processes of form formation were to be identified and analyzed.
Publications resulting from the project:
- Kumar S., Zǐgman M., Patel T.R., Trageser B., Gross J.C., Rahm K., Boutros M., Gradl D., Steinbeisser H., Stetefeld J., Özbek S. (2014). Molecular Dissection of Wnt3a-Frizzled8 Interaction Reveals Essential and Modulatory Determinants of Wnt Signaling Activity. Under review by BMC Biology.
- Zǐgman M., Laumann-Lipp N., Titus T., Postlethwait J., Moens C.B. (2014). Hoxb1b controls microtubule dynamics, cell shape, and oriented cell divisions in neural tube morphogenesis. Development 141 (3): 639–649.
- Körner A., Abuillan W., Deichmann C., Rossetti F.F., Köhler A., Konovalov O.V., Wedlich D., Tanaka M. (2013). Quantitative determination of lateral concentration and depth profile of histidine-tagged recombinant proteins probed by grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence. J. Phys. Chem. B. 117(17): 5002–5008.
- Körner A., Deichmann C., Rossetti F.F., Köhler A., Konovalov O.V., Wedlich D., Tanaka M. (2013). Cell Differentiation of Pluripotent Tissue Sheets Immobilized on Supported Membranes Displaying Cadherin–11. PLoS One 8(2): e54749.
- Mercker M., Hartmann D., Marciniak-Czochra A. (2013). A mechanochemical model for embryonic pattern formation: Coupling tissue mechanics and morphogen expression. PLoS ONE 8(12): e82617.
- Mercker M., Marciniak-Czochra A., Richter T., Hartmann D. (2013): Modeling and computing the deformation dynamics of inhomogeneous biological surfaces. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 73(5): 1768–1792.
- Scholpp S., Poggi, L., Zǐgman M. (2013): Brain on the stage – Spotlight on nervous system development in zebrafish. Neural Development 19(8): 23.
Research Fellows:
- Dr. Anna Marciniak-Czochra
- Dr. Fernanda Rossetti
- Dr. Mihaela Zigman
Associate project partner
Dr. Almut Köhler
Protein kinase D-regulated extracellular matrix degradation monitored by an optical biosensor
Cell migration and invasion refer to the active movement of individual cells or cell clusters within an organism. Cell migration is therefore essential for physiological processes such as wound healing or the immune system’s response to foreign substances. Dysregulation of this process is involved in the development of many diseases, such as tumor cell invasion and metastasis. The invasion of tumor cells from or into tissue requires the controlled local degradation of the extracellular matrix. The goal of this project was to develop an optical biosensor for the rapid and simple quantification and real-time tracking of extracellular matrix degradation by tumor cells.
In this context, the function of protein kinase D (PKD) was analyzed in detail. The optical biosensor consists of a periodic aperture pattern in a gold film that exhibits exceptionally high light transmission at specific wavelengths. This exceptional transmission is mediated by so-called surface plasmons, which are sensitive to changes in the refractive indices at the gold/medium interface and thereby induce characteristic changes in the transmission spectrum. A new method was established for the fabrication of these plasmonic sensors, in which hydrogel spheres were deposited onto surfaces to form ordered two-dimensional patterns. These two-dimensional patterns were used as a mask for the subsequent chemical deposition of a gold film. The sensors were successfully used to detect changes in the refractive index at the gold surface. Initial experiments made it possible to measure the degradation of the extracellular matrix through changes in the transmission spectrum.
Publications resulting from the project:
- Olayioye M.A., Barisic S., Hausser A. (2013). Multi-level control of actin dynamics by protein kinase D. Cell Signal 25(9): 1739–1747. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2013.04.010.
- Quint S. B., Pacholski C. (2013). Highly ordered arrays of colloidal 2D crystals and methods for producing the same, WO2012119609 (A8).
- Barisic S., Nagel A.C., Franz-Wachtel M., Macek B., Preiss A., Link G., Maier D., Hausser A (2011). Phosphorylation of serine 402 impedes Slingshot 1 (SSH1) phosphatase activity. EMBO Rep. 12(6): 527–533.
- Quint S. B., Pacholski C. (2011). Extraordinary long-range order in self-healing non-close-packed 2D arrays, Soft Matter 7(8): 3735–3738.
- Peterburs P., Heering J., Link G., Pfizenmaier K., Olayioye M.A., Hausser A. (2009). Protein Kinase D Regulates Cell Migration by Direct Phosphorylation of the Cofilin Phosphatase Slingshot 1 Like. Cancer Research 69: 5634–5638.
- Quint S. B., Pacholski C. (2009). Highly ordered arrays of nanoholes in metallic films and methods for producing the same, WO2010099805 (A1).
- Quint S.B., Pacholski C. (2009). A chemical route to sub-wavelength hole arrays in metallic films, J. Mater. Chem. T 19: 5906–5908.
- Hausser A., Pacholski C. (2008). Detection of extracellular matrix degradation using a biosensor. Biospektrum Special Cell Biology 5/08.
Research Fellows:
- Dr. Angelika Hausser
- Dr. Claudia Pacholski
Spatial Planning, Standards, and Law in the Historical Cultures of Europe and Asia
Space is a fundamental dimension of the lifeworld and thus also a basic condition of human culture; spatiality and conceptions of space underlie individual life practices, social relationships, and political orders. Although “space” is rooted in natural or physical conditions, cultural theory has moved away from conceiving of space as a given, unchanging, and absolute entity. On the contrary, space is conceptualized as a sociological category insofar as it is constantly reproduced through social action and thus both reflects and shapes power relations, social conditions, and class structures. The project examined the sociocultural significance of spatial arrangements in selected social institutions, practices, behaviors, and attributions of meaning in ancient European, ancient Near Eastern, and pre-colonial Indian cultures, addressing the comparative question of how the human living space is subjected to a structure through the drawing of physical or performative boundaries—a structure that reflects social, political, and cultural concepts of order, but also generates them itself in a reciprocal process.
Publications resulting from the project:
- S. Schmidt-Hofner, C. Ambos, P. Eich (eds.), Spatial Organization, Norms, and Law in Historical Cultures of Europe and Asia. Heidelberg Conference (2011). Heidelberg 2016.
- Peter Eich, The Common Denominator. Late Roman Imperial Bureaucracy from a Comparative Viewpoint. To be published in 2014 in W. Scheidel (ed.), *State Power and Social Control in Ancient China and Rome*. Proceedings of the conference of the same name held in Stanford (2008). Oxford University Press.
- Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Thinking Politics Spatially: Herodotus’s Three Parties in Attica and the Political Imaginary of the Greeks, in: Historische Zeitschrift, 299. 2014, 623–661.
- Claus Ambos, “Temporary Ritual Structures and Their Cosmological Symbolism in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in: D. Ragavan (ed.), *Heaven on Earth: Temples, Ritual, and Cosmic Symbolism in the Ancient World*. Oriental Institute Seminars 9. Chicago 2013, 245–258.
- Claus Ambos, Rituals Associated with the Demolition and Reconstruction of a Temple, in: K. Kaniute et al. (eds.), Temples in the Ancient Near East: 7, International Colloquium of the German Oriental Society, October 11–13, 2009. Munich. Wiesbaden 2013, 19–31.
- Claus Ambos, Mesopotamian Construction Rituals from the 1st Millennium BCE—Additions and Corrections, in: Claus Ambos/Lorenzo Verderame (eds.), Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures: Questioni di rito: Rituals as a Source of Knowledge about Religions and Worldviews in Ancient Cultures. Proceedings of the Conference, November 28–30, 2011, Rome. Supplement No. 2 to the Rivista degli Studi Orientali, New Series LXXXVI. Pisa/Rome 2013, 17–38.
- Claus Ambos, Rites of Passage in Ancient Mesopotamia: Changing Status by Moving through Space: Bı¯t rimki and the Ritual of the Substitute King, in: Claus Ambos/Lorenzo Verderame (eds.), Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures: Questioni di rito: Rituals as a Source of Knowledge about Religions and Worldviews in Ancient Cultures. Proceedings of the Conference, November 28–30, 2011, Rome. Supplement No. 2 to the Rivista degli Studi Orientali, New Series LXXXVI. Pisa/Rome 2013, 39–54.
- Claus Ambos, The King in Prison and the Autumn New Year Festival: Mechanisms of Legitimation of the Babylonian Ruler in the 1st Millennium B.C. and Their History. Dresden 2013.
- Peter Eich, Structures of Politics and Administration in Severan Rome, in: N. Sojc et al. (eds.), City and Palace in Severan Rome. Stuttgart 2013, 85–104.
- Peter Eich, Spotlight, Scheme, Series. Attempts to Approach Everyday Religious Life in Late Roman Cologne, in: P. Eich and E. Faber (eds.), Everyday Religious Life in Late Antiquity. Stuttgart 2013, 201–223.
- Claus Ambos, Ritual Paths at Babylonian Royal Seats, in: F. Arnold et al. (eds.), Places of Rule: Characteristics of Ancient Centers of Power. People – Cultures – Traditions: Studies from the Research Clusters of the German Archaeological Institute, Vol. 3. Rahden/Westphalia 2012, 139–147.
- Peter Eich, Center and Periphery. Administrative Communication in Roman Imperial Times, in: St. Benoist (ed.), Rome, a City and Its Empire in Perspective. The Impact of the Roman World through Fergus Millar’s Research. Leiden, et al. 2012, 85–108.
- Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Trajan and Symbolic Communication During Imperial Visits to Rome in Late Antiquity, in: R. Behrwald/Chr. Witschel (eds.), Historical Memory in the Urban Space: Rome in Late Antiquity. Stuttgart 2012, 33–59.
- Peter Eich, Sebastian Schmidt‐Hofner, Christian Wieland (eds.), The Recurring Leviathan: Statehood and the Formation of the State in Late Antiquity and the Early Modern Period. Heidelberg 2011. Winter Publishing.
Conferences, workshops, and seminars organized as part of the project:
- Conference “Normative Spatial Orders in the Cultures of Antiquity” (PDF) (March 9–11, 2011, Heidelberg).
- Doctoral Colloquium “Space and Boundaries in Cultural Studies Theory-Building” Winter Semester 2008/09 in cooperation with the Heidelberg Research Training Group “Spaces, Images, Ways of Life”
Research Training Group Members:
- Assoc.Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner
- PD Dr. Claus Ambos
Associated Project Partner
Prof. Dr. Peter Eich