Prof. Dr. Dirk Görlich

Main Research Interests: intracellular transport, nuclear pore complexes, importins & exportins, intrinsically disordered proteins & phase separation, recombinant antibodies
Dirk Görlich is a biochemist. His research focuses on transport processes in cells. He is interested to learn how transport signals are processed, how nuclear pore complexes operate as highly efficient transport vehicles and how intrinsically unordered nuclear pore proteins (FG domains) assemble into a selective permeability barrier.
Transport processes are essential for every lifeform that contains a cell nucleus (eucaryotes). The nucleus requires proteins and cytoplasma, whereas the cytoplasma requires molecules (tRNA, mRNA) and ribosomes. Since the nucleus is protected by two membranes, which are impermeable for macromolecules, transport is conducted by nuclear pore complexes. They are embedded in the nuclear envelope and function as gates. Dirk Görlich investigates these nuclear pores, especially their permeability. On the one hand, the pores avoid mixing of the substances inside of the nucleus with the cytoplasma. On the other hand, they allow large macromolecules to pass through, after recognizing them as import-, or export substrates, respectively (importin-exportin complexes).
Görlich identified the receptor for translating ribosomes and the protein-conducting channel of the endoplasmic reticulum, namely the heterotrimeric Sec61αβγ complex. He also successfully reconstituted a fully functional membrane “translocon” from purified components. Further, he demonstrated its capacity to transport secretory proteins across the membrane of the endoplasmatic reticulum and integrated type I and type II membrane proteins into the lipid bilayer.
He also discovered the first importins as mediators of protein import into the cell nucleus. He put forward the RanGTP-gradient model to explain the directionality and energetics of nuclear transport, and his group was instrumental in discovering and characterizing exportins, which mediate export from the cell nucleus.