Research Projects

This activity aims to establish international collaboration between two membrane biology teams, focusing on new approaches and technologies for studying membrane lipid flippases under well-defined conditions. The goal is to visualize and analyze the activity of purified lipid transporters under chemically defined conditions at the single vesicle level. This will help initiate strong collaboration and facilitate future joint grant applications and material exchange. The research will explore the impact of lipid composition on lipid flippase activity and ATP-dependent lipid translocation in membrane bending and vesiculation.The Indo-German collaboration aims to establish the fundamental role of lipid flippases in regulating membrane organization, bending, and vesiculation. The project will involve exchange visits between Indian biophysics students and German biochemistry master students and postdocs, with the aim of improving protocols for purifying lipid flippases and insertion of membrane proteins into giant vesicles of complex lipid compositions. The research will also investigate the spatial organization of lipid flippases in complex membranes, and the role of lipid flippases in inducing morphological shape transformations of GUVs. The project will combine biophysics and biochemistry, aiming to develop robust protocols for reconstitution, advanced imaging, and functional analysis of membrane proteins with a focus on lipid flippases.