Congratulations to our SFB 1381 PIs Claudine Kraft and Carola Hunte and their teams - great story on the link between the mitochondrial fission and autophagy machinery!

We could show that MTFR1L was found at ULK1 foci, and its depletion impairs mitophagy flux and reduces cell survival under starvation. Clearly a protein worth watching. Interestingly, a concomitant PNAS study also highlights its role in cardiac aging and mitochondrial homeostasis in cardiomyocytes

🚨 Paper Alert! In this new work published in @jcellsci.bsky.social we shift our focus on MTFR1L and the feedback loop linking mitochondrial fission, mitophagy and apoptosis. MTFR1L emerges as a critical coordinator of the fission and autophagy machinery.
🔗Find the paper here: doi.org/10.1242/jcs....

New pre-print from the lab! We show that the subtilase SBT12a is essential for symbiosome stabilization in Medicago. Using HUNTER proteomics, we even got some of its substrates. Have a look.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

What a blast! 🎉

Our International Symposium last week gathered 27 world class speakers and over 200 participants. From electrifying plenary talks to vibrant poster session chats, the energy was palpable and the atmosphere truly unforgettable.

A massive thank you to all speakers and attendees!

That's a wrap on the 2nd International Symposium organized by @sfb1381.bsky.social in Freiburg! 🎉 Three days of great talks, fascinating science, and wonderful people. Loved being part of it. Huge thanks for the organisation!

Mitochondria contact lipid droplets through the mitochondrial import complex binding to lipid metabolism enzyme Ayr1 - Nature Cell Biology Heinen et al. show that the mitochondrial import complex recruits lipid droplets to the mitochondrial outer membrane. The mitochondrial import complex binds to the lipid metabolism enzyme Ayr1 and con...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We are excited to share our new preprint which is now available to read on biorXiv: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉🎉🎉

If you are at #CellBio2025, head over NOW to room 108 to hear about CIBSS and the Clusters of Excellence @immunosens.bsky.social and @cecad.bsky.social.

We are looking forward to meet you!

Online now - the Review " #Autophagy regulation by phase separation, avidity, and wetting" from @wilflinglab.bsky.social, @kraftlabfr.bsky.social and co.

#BiomolecularCondensates #PhaseSeparation #Wetting #Avidity #Theraeputics

Read it here: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Autophagy regulation by phase separation, avidity, and wetting Autophagy enables cells to selectively degrade a wide range of macromolecules, and how this process achieves spatial precision within the densely packed cytosol is an active area of investigation. Rec...

Physical principles have redefined our understanding of autophagy.

In our new @cp-trendsbiochem.bsky.social review, we discuss how phase separation, avidity, and wetting shape autophagy at the molecular level.

Great collaboration with @wilflinglab.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/bioch...

Congratulations! Our SFB 1381 Principal Investigator Claudine Kraft has been awarded an esteemed ERC Synergy Grant, along with her partners in Vienna and Berkeley.

Really looking forward to starting this collaboration!

Excited to be working with @martenslab.bsky.social and @jimhurley.bsky.social on this! Great teamwork all around! @uni-freiburg.de

Photovoltaik-Forscher Prof. Dr. Stefan Glunz. Foto: Jürgen Gocke / Universität Freiburg

Molekularbiologin Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft. Foto: CIBSS / Universität Freiburg

Mikrosystemtechniker Prof. Dr. Çağlar Ataman. Foto: Jürgen Gocke / Universität Freiburg

Archäologin Dr. Susanne Brather-Walter. Foto: Jürgen Gocke / Universität Freiburg

Vier #ERCSynergyGrants für Forschende der #UniFreiburg. Insgesamt werden die vier Projekte durch den @erc.europa.eu mit rund 41 Millionen Euro über sechs Jahre gefördert; die #UniversitätFreiburg erhält davon gut neun Mio Euro.
➡️ Mehr zu den geförderten Projekten hier: ufr.link/erc-synergy-grant-25

ERC Synergy Grant for Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft CIBSS speaker Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft is part of a team receiving an ERC Synergy Grant of ten million euros for her research on how autophagy degrades large protein aggregates in health and disease.

Congratulations! Claudine Kraft @kraftlabfr.bsky.social receives a prestigious ERC Synergy Grant – to find out why some protein #aggregates can be cleared by #autophagy and others not. She and her partners will harness this knowledge to improve autophagy in #ageing & #disease.
🔗  kurzlinks.de/50j8

Fantastic teamwork with @kraftlabfr.bsky.social and @jimhurley.bsky.social! Looking forward to exciting discoveries ahead. Many thanks to @erc.europa.eu for funding our proposal. @univie.ac.at @maxperutzlabs.ac.at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social

Thrilled to join you and Claudine to study the cell's own version of Banksy's self-shredding artwork!

Autophagy: the cell’s waste disposal system Research into how cells initiate and regulate autophagy opens the door to new ways of preventing a range of diseases.,,,European Commission

New #CORDIS article on work by Claudine Kraft
@kraftlabfr.bsky.social l "Autophagy: the cell’s waste disposal system" - work was result of @erc.europa.eu LS1 project "AutoClean" #H2020 #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

Back from the 8th NAS Conference in Sånga Säby, and what a wonderful experience it was! Christoph and Franzi represented the lab, and as a cherry on top, Chris won an award for his talk 🎉 Huge thanks to the NAS for organising and always creating such a warm community atmosphere!

The future of @cibss.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de is about teamwork, curiosity, and collaboration across disciplines.

We are thrilled to be in this together @kraftlabfr.bsky.social @archaellum.bsky.social @kleinevehnlab.bsky.social !

New leadership for #CIBSS!
Welcome Sonja-Verena Albers as new spokesperson & congrats to Claudine Kraft on her confirmation. Together with Jürgen Kleine-Vehn, they’ll lead CIBSS into its #NextChapter – following Wolfgang Driever & Carola Hunte.
More info: kurzlinks.de/fkv4

And it's out!

I'm thrilled to share our new paper (Adriaenssens et al., Nat Cell Biol 2025).

This paper describes a new mechanism for the initiation of autophagosome biogenesis.

We found that this WIPI-ATG13-driven pathway is preferentially used by a group of transmembrane autophagy receptors.

🎓✨ Huge congratulations to Saskia, an amazing PhD student who just successfully defended her thesis!
The flower crown toss might just become our new lab tradition! @uni-freiburg.de

LRBA deficiency impairs autophagy and contributes to enhanced antigen presentation and T-cell dysregulation | EMBO reports imageimageLRBA regulates autophagy and antigen presentation, shedding light on the mechanism of immune dysregulation in LRBA deficiency. LRBA directly interacts with PIK3R4 and FYCO1, promoting autop...

🧬 Excited to share this new publication! A collaborative effort within @sfb1381.bsky.social exploring the intersection of immunology and autophagy.

📖 Read it here: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Prof. Dr. Thomas Seifert, Professor für Waldwachstum und Dendroökologie und Sprecher des IGK FORSCALE, Prof. Dr. Patrick Dondl, Professor für Angewandte Mathematik und Sprecher des IGK 3132 und Prof. Dr. Thomas Reinheckel, Professor für Molekulare Medizin / Zelluläre Pathomechanismen und Sprecher von ProtPath.

Die @dfg.de fördert drei Graduiertenkollegs „FORSCALE“, „Analysis nichtlinearer PDG“ und „ProtPath“ an der #UniFreiburg. Dieser Erfolg stärkt die #Spitzenforschung und #Nachwuchsförderung in Freiburg in #Forstwissenschaften, #Biochemie und #Mathematik. ➡️ ufr.link/dfg-grk-2025 #DFG

ATG9A and ARFIP2 cooperate to control PI4P levels for lysosomal repair Lysosome damage activates multiple pathways to prevent lysosome-dependent cell death, including a repair mechanism involving endoplasmic reticulum (ER…

Excited to share our newly published work on ATG9A — this time focusing on its role at the lysosome. Discover how ARFIP2 and ATG9A coordinate PI4P regulation during lysosomal repair!

Congrats to all the authors, and special thanks to @stedet.bsky.social & @satooze.bsky.social !!

📜 bit.ly/43EbrDo

Celebrating our successful new excellence cluster #FutureForests @uni-freiburg.de. Thanks @dfg.de, this will enable us to substantially invest in exciting and much-needed research for the next 7 years - predicting and transforming forest systems in a changing climate uni-freiburg.de/futureforest...

Gruppenfoto: 1. Reihe v.l.n.r. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever (CIBSS), Prof. Dr. Kerstin Kriegstein (Rektorin), Prof. Dr. Stefan Rensing (Prorektor für Forschung und Innovation), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus (Future Forests) 2. Reihe v.l.n.r. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kleine-Vehn (CIBSS), Dr. Carola Hunte (CIBSS), Prof. Dr. Friederike Lang (Future Forests) 3. Reihe v.l.n.r. Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft (CIBSS), Prof. Dr. Marc Hanewinkel (Future Forests) Fotograf: Michael Spiegelhalter

🎉Ab 1. Januar 2026 fördert die @dfg.de (#DFG) zwei #Exzellenzcluster der #UniFreiburg. Der bisherige #Exzellenzcluster @cibss.bsky.social wird weitere sieben Jahre fortgesetzt. Zudem startet der neue Exzellenzcluster #FutureForests. ufr.link/exzellenzclu...