CV

Yanwen Wu received his B.S. from Sun Yat-sen University and M.S. from Tsinghua University. Then, he pursued his PhD at MPI Dortmund and TU-Dortmund, Germany. After graduation, he continued his research at MPI Dortmund and Randall and cardiovascular Divisions, King’s College London, UK as postdoctoral fellow. In 2010, he started his independent research as the Otto-Hahn group leader (W2 professorship) in Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology. Dr. Wu’s research interests include molecular mechanism of membrane trafficking, chemical labeling for visualizing cellular events, chemical genomics, protein modification, protein structure and enzymology.

Abstract
Due to the spatial segregation of intracellular organelles in eukaryotic cells a sophisticated system of vesicular transport is required to confer the communication between different compartments. Rab GTPases function as key regulators of intracellular vesicular transport. Interacting with a complex network of Rab regulators and effectors, Rab GTPases regulate these processes through spatiotemporal controlled GTPase cycle and distribution in cells. Our laboratory has characterized the regulation mechanism involved in Rab membrane targeting using chemical biological approaches. The methodology platform includes: a) site-specific protein modification with synthetic probes and/or posttranslational modifications (PTMs); b) GTPase activation sensors; c) small-molecule switch for controlling protein function in cells; d) small-molecule probes for modulating Rab geranylgeranyl transferase activity.