In the Haucke laboratory we aim to understand how cellular membranes and membrane-enclosed compartments dynamically exchange materials between them and its implications for cell signaling in health and disease. Our main focus is on the endocytic and endolysosomal system that we study in genome-engineered cell lines and in nerve cells or tissue. The laboratory uses a broad range of techniques including biochemical and molecular biology approaches, super-resolution light and electron microscopy, chemical biology and screening technology, electrophysiology as well as genetic and genome engineering at the cellular or organismic levels in vivo.
The overarching goal of these studies is to provide a mechanistic understanding of the assembly of protein-lipid scaffolds that support exo-endocytosis coupling and endolysosomal functions, and to use this know-how to develop novel strategies for pharmacological or genetic interference. Our studies thereby provide important and novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying a broad range of diseases, including epilepsy, neurodegeneration, lysosomal disorders, myopathies and cancer.

Research within the Haucke lab can be grossly divided into two major topics:

(1)    The formation and maintenance of the presynaptic compartment and its role in synaptic neurotransmission, and

(2)    The regulation of membrane homeostasis and cell signaling in the endolysosomal system by phosphoinositides and phosphoinositide-metabolizing enzymes.