Heart, Muscle & Cellular Mechanics: From sarcomere biology to cardiac disease and immune cell function
Wolfgang Linke and his group investigate how molecular structures and mechanical properties determine cellular and organ function in health and disease. A major focus is the sarcomere, the fundamental contractile unit of striated muscle, and its role in cardiac and skeletal muscle function.
We study how sarcomere organization, protein composition, mechanical signaling and protein turnover shape muscle performance and adaptation. Our goal is to understand how disturbances in these processes contribute to cardiomyopathy, heart failure and muscle dysfunction.
Sarcomere Biology, Protein Homeostasis & Muscle Mechanics
The sarcomere is a dynamic structure whose function depends on the coordinated interplay of its constituent proteins. We investigate how sarcomeric proteins are maintained, renewed and degraded, and how changes in their composition and mechanical properties affect muscle function.
A particular interest is titin, a giant sarcomeric protein that contributes to muscle elasticity, structural organization and mechanical signaling. Together with other sarcomeric proteins, titin helps determine how muscle responds to physiological demands and pathological stress.
By linking protein homeostasis and sarcomere mechanics to cardiac function, we seek to identify molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac remodeling and disease.
Beyond Muscle: Protein Function in Immune Cells
We also investigate muscle-associated proteins in other cell types. For instance, our work has identified roles for titin beyond striated muscle, including in T cells and neutrophils.
Building on these findings, we are expanding our research into immune cell mechanics: how the mechanical properties of immune cells influence their function, interactions with their environment and physiological responses. This emerging direction extends our expertise in muscle mechanics and molecular physiology into cellular immunology.
From Basic Mechanisms to Human Disease
The Linke group combines molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, biophysics and advanced microscopy to investigate biological processes from proteins and molecular assemblies to cells, tissues and organs. Our studies use experimental cell lines, animal models and, in particular, human cardiac cells and heart tissue to connect fundamental mechanisms with human disease.
Our central questions include:
How do sarcomeric protein composition and turnover determine muscle structure and function?
How do changes in protein homeostasis and sarcomere mechanics contribute to cardiomyopathy and heart failure?
How do muscle cells adapt to physiological demands and pathological stress?
How do molecular and mechanical properties shape immune cell function?
What roles do muscle-associated proteins play in other cell types and physiological systems?
By integrating molecular mechanisms, biomechanics and cellular and organ physiology, we aim to advance understanding of cardiac disease, muscle dysfunction and immune cell function, while identifying mechanisms that may inform future therapeutic strategies.
Translational Research: Connecting molecular mechanisms with human disease
Our overarching goal is to understand how molecular and cellular changes alter physiological function and contribute to disease. By combining research on cardiac muscle with emerging studies of immune cell mechanics, we seek to uncover principles of biological function across tissues and cell types, with potential implications for disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment.