Tethering complexes

Membrane fusion occurs at all cellular membranes. It is required for our thinking to release neurotransmitters and to release hormones from cells. This is not a trivial process as membranes need help to fuse with each other.

Tethering complexes are required to bring two membranes into proximity before they fuse. They form both bridges between membranes and assist in the fusion process by binding membrane-anchored SNAREs (the grey bars in the model).

We study the HOPS and CORVET complexes, two large hexamers, which are essential for membrane fusion at the endosome and vacuole – both in yeast and within human cells.

To understand their function, we purify both complexes and use reconstituted membrane tethering and fusion. In addition, we cooperate with Arne Möller’s group in Osnabrück – right next door(!) – and recently solved the structure of HOPS (see Shvarev, Schoppe, König et al., elife 2022). More to come.