PUMPKIN partners:

Director

Poul Nissen
Professor, PhD
Molecular Biology
Aarhus University


Group Leaders

Jens Peter Andersen
Professor, dr. med.
Physiology and Biophysics
Aarhus University

Natalya Fedosova
Associate Professor, PhD
Physiology and Biophysics
Aarhus University

Anja Thoe Fuglsang
Associate Professor, PhD
Plant Biology
University of Copenhagen

Karin Lykke-Hartmann
Associate Professor, PhD
Medical Biochemistry
Aarhus University

Jesper Vuust Møller
Professor, dr. med.
Physiology and Biophysics
Aarhus University

Michael G. Palmgren
Professor, PhD
Plant Biology
University of Copenhagen

Christian N. S. Pedersen
Associate Professor, PhD
BiRC
Aarhus University

Thomas G. Pomorski
Associate Professor, PhD
Plant Biology
University of Copenhagen

Bente Vilsen
Professor, dr. med.
Physiology and Biophysics
Aarhus University

Carsten Wiuf
Professor, PhD
BiRC
Aarhus University



Junior group Leaders

J. Preben Morth

Assistant Professor, PhD
Molecular Biology
Aarhus University

Mads Schak Toustrup-Jensen
Associate Professor, PhD
Physiology and Biophysics
Aarhus University

Morten Buch-Pedersen
Senior researcher, PhD
Plant Biology
University of Copenhagen

Rosa L. López-Marqués
Associate Professor, PhD
Plant Biology
University of Copenhagen

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The Centre for Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease - PUMPKIN is a highly interdisciplinary research centre funded by the Danish National Research Foundation.

Under the direction of Professor Poul Nissen, the centre analyses the structure and function of P-type ATPases, a family of ion pumps that are found in all cells of various bacteria, plants and animals. These enzymes serve a wide range of functions. They pump acid into the stomach, they maintain the salt balance, and they are the wall plugs that allow nerve cells to communicate with electric currents. In short, they are of vital importance for cell function. Even a partial reduction of activity can lead to diseases and termination makes life impossible.

In 2007 researchers at the centre published the structures of three P-type ATPases: A sodium potassium pump, a proton pump, and a calcium pump (Nature, 13 December).

Many drugs act on these pumps, e.g. some types of heart and ulcer drugs. The research at the PUMPKIN centre will lead to greater knowledge of the pumps, which will allow new and better drugs to be developed. PUMPKIN covers the life science spectrum from protein crystallography where the position of the individual atoms in the pumps are determined, to mouse models where the pump genes are manipulated in order to study the significance of the pumps in live animals.




The PUMPKIN laboratories are situated both at the University of Aarhus and the University of Copenhagen. Placed in beautiful natural settings, they offer high standard core facilities with state of the art equipment. Relying on expert knowledge within x-ray crystallography, biochemistry, molecular biology, plant and mouse models, and bioinformatics, the PUMPKIN Centre has a unique experience and a world-renown expertise in studying P-ATPases, including the Na+,K+-ATPase, different Ca2+-ATPase isoforms, H+,K+-ATPases, H+-ATPases, and the so-called heavy-metal ATPases.


 

Events

1 February 2010

Annual meeting with the Danish National Research Foundation, 12:45 pm - 15:30 pm in the Conference room, Science Park, building 10C, 3rd floor.

See the programme here.

25-26 March 2010

Conference:

Have You Ever Seen a Molecule?

Art, Science and Visual Communication

Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Cambridge, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, UK

CALL FOR PAPERS

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