A05 Rief: Mechanical control of protein conformations

In this project, we use single-molecule force spectroscopy by optical tweezers to study the conformational mechanics of the Hsp70 chaperone system and the mechanical action of chaperones on their substrate proteins. The overall goal is to understand chaperone enzymes as mechanical machines. Three subprojects will study the ATP-driven conformational changes of DnaK in dependence of its co-chaperones and substrate proteins, the chaperone mediated conformational control of steroid hormone receptors and the tumor suppressor p53.