Decoding the connection between chemical and mechanical cues in plexin signaling.
© EIMI/M.F. Sánchez

Transmembrane Signaling Lab (Dr. Maria Florencia Sánchez)

Emmy Noether Junior Research Group

Cells sense their environment, receive, and process a diverse set of chemical and mechanical signals through transmembrane receptors. How receptors sense and integrate these signals to orchestrate a wide variety of physiological outcomes remains one of the biggest questions in biology. My group aims to develop novel approaches to understand how membrane organization and receptor clustering influence physiological responses. We use modern techniques ranging from nanolithography, 3D printing, DNA origami, cell and molecular biology and optogenetics to live-cell advanced microscopy. We have strong interest for guidance receptors such as plexins, which regulate the shape and motility of cells during the development of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, and play important roles in many pathophysiological processes, including cancer, immunological and neurological diseases.

  • Team

  • Publications

    • Antonino, Magdalena; Marmo, Paula; Freites, Carlos Leandro; Quassollo, Gonzalo Emiliano; Sánchez, M. Florencia; Lorenzo, Alfredo; and Bignante, Elena Anahi. . ‘Aβ promotes amyloidogenic processing of APP through a Go/Gβγ signaling.’ Frontiers in cell and developmental biology 10: 852738. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.852738.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Tampé, Robert. . ‘Ligand-independent signaling by receptor condensates: a new paradigm.’ Trends in Biochemical Sciences 48, No. 2: 156–171. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2022.08.002.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Dietz, Marina S.; Müller, Ulrike; Weghuber, Julian; Gatterdam, Karl; Wieneke, Heilemann, Mike; Ralph; Lanzerstorfer, Peter; and Tampé, Robert. . ‘Dynamic in situ confinement triggers ligand-free neuropeptide receptor signaling.’ Nano Letters 20, No. 22: 8363–8371. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03506.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Els-Heindl, Sylvia; Beck-Sickinger, Annette G.; Wieneke, Ralph; Tampé, Robert. . ‘Photo-induced receptor confinement drives ligand-independent GPCR signaling.’ Science 371, No. 6536: eabb7657. doi: 10.1126/science.abb7657.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Murad, Fabronia, Gülcüler Balta, Gülce S.; Martin-Villalba, Ana; García-Sáez, Ana J.; Carrer, Dolores. . ‘Early activation of CD95 is limited and localized to the cytotoxic synapse.’ The FEBS Journal 285, No. 15: 2813–2827. doi: 10.1111/febs.14518.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Carrer, Dolores C. . ‘Lipid bilayer patterns fabrication by one-photon lithography.’ In Chemical and Synthetic Approaches in Membrane Biology, edited by Shukla A. (eds), Springer Protocols Handbooks, Humana Press, 37–48. Argentinien: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/8623_2016_6.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Dodes Traian, Martín M.; Levi, Valeria; and Carrer, Dolores C. . ‘One-Photon Lithography for High-Quality Lipid Bilayer Micropatterns.’ Langmuir 13, No. 43: 11943–11950. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b02934.
    • Sánchez, M. Florencia; Levi, Valeria; Weidemann, Thomas; Carrer, Dolores. . ‘Agonist mobility on supported lipid bilayers affects Fas mediated death response.’ FEBS Letters 589, No. 23: 3527–3533. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2015.10.009.