Main Research interests and key findings
The team focuses on the development and application of analytical workflows to address biological questions in the fields of protein, proteome, metabolite, and metabolome (and eventually transcriptome) analysis. The analytical methods are primarily based on instrumental, bioanalytical separation methods in combination with mass spectrometry . Because of the enormous amount of generated raw data, we collaborate with bioinformaticians and statisticians in order to properly interpret the experimental data and put them into a biological context. The major goal of our work is the collection of information about changes in protein or metabolite concentration that are caused by stimulation or stressing of cell models (cancer stem cells, dendritic cells, monocytes, hepatocytes, lung epithelial cells, ecological models such as Enchytraeus crypticus) upon treatment with drugs, chemicals, nanomaterials, or by diseases such as allergy or cancer. These changes allow us drawing conclusions on the biochemical pathways and mechanisms involved in disease or toxic effects of drugs, chemicals and nanoparticles.