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Open Call for Proposals in Subprogram 4

4. Subprogram (2008–2013)

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.

Funded by

bwmfw

 

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 T19: 5906–5908.
  • Hausser A., Pacholski C. (2008). Detektion extrazellulärer Matrixdegradation durch einen Biosensor. Biospektrum Special Zellbiologie 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 (Hrsg.), Raumordnung, Norm und Recht in historischen Kulturen Europas und Asiens. Tagung Heidelberg (2011). Heidelberg 2016.
  • Peter Eich, The Common Denominator. Late Roman Imperial Bureaucracy from a Comparative Viewpoint. Erscheint 2014 in W. Scheidel (Hrsg.), State Power and Social Control in Ancient China and Rome. Akten der gleichnamigen Tagung in Stanford (2008). Oxford University Press.
  • Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Politik räumlich denken. Herodots drei Parteien in Attika und das politische Imaginaire der Griechen, in: Historische Zeitschrift, 299. 2014, 623–661.
  • Claus Ambos, Temporary Ritual Structures and Their Cosmological Symbolism in Ancient Mesopotamia, in: D. Ragavan (Hrsg.), Heaven on Earth: Temples, Ritual, and Cosmic Symbolism in the Ancient World. Oriental Institute Seminars 9. Chicago 2013, 245–258.
  • Claus Ambos, Rituale beim Abriss und Wiederaufbau eines Tempels, in: K. Kaniuthet al. (Hrsg.), Tempel im Alten Orient: 7, internationales Colloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 11.–13. Oktober 2009. München. Wiesbaden 2013, 19–31.
  • Claus Ambos, Mesopotamische Baurituale aus dem 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. – Nachträge und Verbesserungen, in: Claus Ambos/Lorenzo Verderame (Hrsg.), Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures: Questioni di rito: Rituali come fonte di conoscenza delle religioni e delle concezioni del mondo nelle culture antiche. Proceedings of the Conference, November 28–30, 2011, Roma. Supplemento No. 2 alla Rivista degli Studi Orientali Nuova Serie LXXXVI. Pisa/Roma 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 (Hrsg.), Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures: Questioni di rito: Rituali come fonte di conoscenza delle religioni e delle concezioni del mondo nelle culture antiche. Proceedings of the Conference, November 28–30, 2011, Roma. Supplemento No. 2 alla Rivista degli Studi Orientali Nuova Serie LXXXVI. Pisa/Roma 2013, 39–54.
  • Claus Ambos, Der König im Gefängnis und das Neujahrsfest im Herbst: Mechanismen der Legitimation des babylonischen Herrschers im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. Und ihre Geschichte. Dresden 2013.
  • Peter Eich, Strukturen von Politik und Verwaltung im severischen Rom, in: N. Sojc u.a. (Hrsg.), Stadt und Palast im severischen Rom. Stuttgart 2013, 85–104.
  • Peter Eich, Schlaglicht, Schema, Serie. Versuche einer Annäherung an den religiösen Alltag im spätrömischen Köln, in: P. Eich/E. Faber (Hrsg.), Religiöser Alltag in der Spätantike. Stuttgart 2013, 201–223.
  • Claus Ambos, Rituelle Wege an babylonischen Königssitzen, in: F. Arnold u.a. (Hrsg.), Orte der Herrschaft: Charakteristika von antiken Machtzentren. Menschen – Kulturen – Traditionen: Studien aus den Forschungsclustern des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Band 3. Rahden/Westf. 2012, 139–147.
  • Peter Eich, Centre and Periphery. Administrative Communication in Roman Imperial Times, in: St. Benoist (Hrsg.), Rome, a City and it's Empire in Perspective. The Impact of the Roman World through Fergus Millar’s Research. Leiden u.a. 2012, 85–108.
  • Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner, Trajan und die symbolische Kommunikation bei kaiserlichen Rombesuchen in der Spätantike, in: R. Behrwald/Chr.Witschel (Hrsg.), Historische Erinnerung im städtischen Raum: Rom in der Spätantike. Stuttgart 2012, 33–59.
  • Peter Eich, Sebastian Schmidt‐Hofner, Christian Wieland (Hg.), Der wiederkehrende Leviathan: Staatlichkeit und Staatswerdung in Spätantike und Früher Neuzeit. Heidelberg 2011. Verlag Winter.

 

Conferences, workshops, and seminars organized as part of the project:

 

Research Training Group Members:
  • Assoc.Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner
  • PD Dr. Claus Ambos

 

Associated Project Partner

Prof. Dr. Peter Eich