From February 25 to July 10, 2024, biochemist Prof. Dr. Philipp Selenko was a guest in the laboratory of UniSysCat spokesperson Prof. Dr. Juri Rappsilber to advance a joint research project on the role of certain enzymes in dementia. Selenko is Professor for Cellular Structural Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot, Israel, where his group develops and employs high-resolution methods to study the biology of cells.
During his stay in the Rappsilber lab, the researchers have been working on a project related to enzyme-mediated catalysis: Deciphering the role of lipid- and cholesterol-processing enzymes in the development and progression of age-related dementias such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. They carried out mass spectrometry experiments in different cellular environments to investigate the influence of structural changes in the enzymes associated with dementia. The background is, that enzyme-mediated catalysis and the modification of enzyme activities are important mechanisms that nerve cells in the brain use to react to different environmental conditions. However, these mechanisms decline with ageing and are critically impaired in neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, understanding the exact function of the involved enzymes is essential to understand the diseases and to find effective therapies.
Understanding complex processes in biocatalysis is a project at the heart of UniSysCat. And the exchange of expertise with leading researchers worldwide is an important aspect here. The scientific exchange and collaboration with Prof. Selenko were very valuable and inspiring for the whole Rappsilber team.
Philipp Selenko studied chemistry at the University of Vienna. Between 1996 and 1998 he was diploma student at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna. Selenko obtained his PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, followed by postdoc years at Harvard Medical School. In 2007, he was appointed a group leader at the Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin, before moving to Israel in 2018, where he is currently a Professor for Cellular Structural Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot, Israel.