Professor Dr Maya Schuldiner

Research Priorities: Systematic cell biology of organelles, organelles, contact sites, targeting, high content screens, functional genomics
Maya Schuldiner is an Israeli molecular geneticist. With her research, she aims to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the basic functions underlying intracellular organization.
Proteins are the building blocks of life. They are involved in every vital process. But for 30% of all proteins, their function is not yet known. Maya Schuldiner wants to clarify the functions and basic processes of these proteins. To do so, she is using robotics combined with analytical methods. This has enabled her to accelerate the investigation of proteins enormously.
In her laboratory, she studies the sorting and transport of proteins to cell organelles, especially to peroxisomes, mitochondria, and the endoplasmic reticulum. The sorting to organelles is achieved by specific protein targeting sequences and targeting factors that identify them. Maya Schuldiner and her team have identified two new targeting pathways for proteins to reach the endoplasmic reticulum (Guided Entry of Tail-anchored proteins (GET) and SND (Srp iNDependent) pathways). She was also able to describe completely new methods and pathways of protein targeting to mitochondria and peroxisomes (ER-SURF / targeting receptor Pex9).
Organelle communication plays an essential role in the coordination of cell function. Organelles communicate via contact sites between their membranes. Maya Schuldiner has enormously broadened the understanding of these contacts by discovering new contact sites, molecular tethers and regulators and describing new functions for selected contacts.
Her research results have deepened and advanced the understanding of the functioning and communication of organelles. She makes her analytical methods available to researchers around the world to help them characterize proteins faster.