I am dissecting the molecular mechanisms employed by diverse sets of proteins which remodel the microtubule and actin cytoskeleton. The precise control of the dynamic equilibrium between polymeric and monomeric cytoskeleton components is a prerequisite for proper cell function, e.g. during migration, polarization or cytokinesis.
For this, I employ biochemical and biophysical methods, and directly visualize protein dynamics during microtubule and actin filament assembly and disassembly in real-time, using multi-color, single-molecule TIRF microscopy. I am particularly interested in mechanisms of the often neglected microtubule-actin filament crosstalk as well as formin function and polymer recycling. My work is supported by the DFG (Germany).
When not in the lab, I spend my time playing basketball, reading flap books or building sand castles.
Publications:
- Fenn S*, Breitsprecher D*, Gerhold CB, Witte G, Faix J, Hopfner KP. Structural biochemistry of nuclear actin-related proteins 4 and 8 reveals their interaction with actin. EMBO J. 2011 Apr 15. *contributed equally
- Breitsprecher D, Kiesewetter AK, Linkner J, Vinzenz M, Stradal TE, Small JV, Curth U, Dickinson RB, Faix J. Molecular mechanism of Ena/VASP-mediated actin-filament elongation. EMBO J. 2011 Feb 2;30(3):456-67.
- Ramalingam N, Zhao H, Breitsprecher D, Lappalainen P, Faix J, Schleicher M. Phospholipids regulate localization and activity of mDia1 formin. Eur J Cell Biol. 2010 Oct;89(10):723-32.
- Breitsprecher D, Faix J. The inverted Formin INF2 sorts it out. Dev Cell. 2010 May 18;18(5):689-90.
- Breitsprecher D, Kiesewetter AK, Linkner J, Faix J. Analysis of actin assembly by in vitro TIRF microscopy. Methods Mol Biol. 2009;571:401-15.
- Filopodia: Complex models for simple rods. Faix J, Breitsprecher D, Stradal TE, Rottner K. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2009 Aug-Sep;41(8-9):1656-64. Epub 2009 Feb 23. Review.
- Breitsprecher D, Kiesewetter AK, Linkner J, Urbanke C, Resch GP, Small JV, Faix J. Clustering of VASP actively drives processive, WH2 domain-mediated actin filament elongation. EMBO J. 2008 Nov 19;27(22):2943-54.
- Lai FP, Szczodrak M, Block J, Faix J, Breitsprecher D, Mannherz HG, Stradal TE, Dunn GA, Small JV, Rottner K. Arp2/3 complex interactions and actin network turnover in lamellipodia. EMBO J. 2008 Apr 9;27(7):982-92.