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The Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) is conducting basic and applied research in established and emerging areas of Biomedical science.

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Call for Director position at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH)

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Recent News

IMBB researcher receives the Empeirikeion Foundation Academic Excellence Prize, December 2012
Nektarios Tavernarakis, a Research Director at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation of Research and technology Hellas, and a Professor-elect at the Medical School of the University of Crete was awarded the Grant Academic Excellence Prize of the Empeirikeion Foundation for his seminal research achievements, relevant to ageing, neurodegeneration, and learning and memory. [Press Release]
EMBO Young Investigator award at IMBB-FORTH, November 2012

George A. Garinis, Associate Professor of Genetics at the department of Biology, University of Crete and an affiliated Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) at the Foundation of Research and technology Hellas has been awarded the prestigious EMBO Young Investigator award for his research achievements on delineating the functional role of Nucleotide Excision Repair factors in development and disease.
Marie Curie EU-FP7-ITN Program coordinated by IMBB, July 2012
IMBB will coordinate a competitive European Union FP7-Marie Curie Initital Training Program with a core intellectual focus on "the impact of Chromatin Dynamics on the DNA damage Response (aDDRess)". Co-ordinator of the Program is Dr. George Garinis who is a member of IMBB and Associate Professor at the department of Biology at the University of Crete.
New ERC Starting Grant for IMBB Researcher, July 2012
 The IMBB researcher Dr Panayiota Poirazi has been awarded the prestigious Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC) for her proposal entitled "Dissecting the role of dendrites in memory".
Structural Biology EU-FP7-REGPOT program awarded to IMBB, July 2012
IMBB has been awarded a competitive European Union FP7 -Regional Potential grant for “Unlocking the innovative capacity of multidisciplinary structural biology-driven research in Crete”. Co-ordinator of the grant is Prof. Michael Kokkinidis who is a member of IMBB and professor of Biology at the University of Crete.
Funding of IMBB research team by an EU FP7-HEALTH-2012 Grant, April 2012
 A research team of IMBB, led by Dr Dimitris Kardassis, is part of a recently funded FP7-HEALTH-2012-INNOVATION large scale 5-year integrating project entitled: ”RESOLVE: A systems biology approach to Resolve the molecular pathology of the hallmarks of patients with metabolic syndrome and its co-morbidities; Hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol and loss of glycemic control”.
ARISTEIA Grants awarded to 9 researchers of IMBB, March 2012
Nine IMBB Researchers have been awarded the prestigious ARISTEIA grants from the General Secretariat for Research and Technology. 21 ARISTEIA grants in total have been awarded to researchers of FORTH.

 

Research News

The Eliopoulos lab in collaboration with the Liloglou team at the University of Liverpool uncovered a novel function of the TPL2 kinase as suppressor of lung carcinogenesis. By combining genomic analyses of human tumors with cell and animal model systems, Gkirtzimanaki, Gkouskou et al report the operation of multiple genetic and epigenetic mechanisms which lead to loss of TPL2 expression in lung tumors and link TPL2 to key pathways regulating the apoptosis barrier to cancer.

The Mavrothalassitis lab in collaboration with the Wilkie lab combining human genetics and animal model systems, identified the genetic basis of a newly recognized clinical disorder, ERF-related craniosynostosis. Twigg et al reveal that ERF haploinsufficiency causes multiple-suture synostosis, craniofacial dysmorphism, Chiari malformation and language delay.

Research at IMBB, published today in the premier international scientific journal Nature, uncovers a universal and potent protective mechanism against neuronal necrosis. By developing and characterizing models of heat stroke, Kourtis and Nikoletopoulou in the Tavernarakis lab reveal a novel molecular mechanism that defends against neurodegeneration triggered by extreme temperature and multiple, diverse insults.
Work from IMBB has uncovered a role for bHLH-O (a.k.a. Hes) proteins Dpn and E(spl) in neural stem cell maintenance in Drosophila. By exerting an anti-differentiation activity they ensure long-term proliferation, which is needed to produce the myriad of neural cells. However, aberrant cell signalling that leads to bHLH-O overexpression can cause pathological over-proliferation of neural stem cells. Zacharioudaki et al, Development 2012.

IMBB researchers reveal similarities in the development of insect and vertebrate body segments. Sarrazin et al. show that a segmentation clock, analogous to the one found in vertebrates, underpins segmentation in insects.

IMBB researchers uncover a novel molecular mechanism for Nucleotide Excision Repair during mammalian development. Kamileri et al reveal that key proteins in this pathway activate the transcription of genes involved in mammalian growth.
IMBB researchers uncover a novel, unexpected molecular mechanism required for the degeneration of nerve cells. Troullinaki and Tavernarakis reveal that two processes normally essential for cell survival, endocytosis and intracellular trafficking, also contribute to necrotic cell death.
The Economou lab in collaboration with the Kalodimos lab (Rutgers U.) reveal a novel regulatory mechanism in protein-protein interactions. Chen et al show that the interaction of a chaperone with its substrate is mediated by finely tuned structural instability and is coupled to molecular mimicry.

IMBB researchers contribute to the unraveling of the molecular mechanism of Notch signalling. Daskalaki et al show that ubiquitylation of the Notch ligand Delta simultaneously triggers its endocytosis and its signalling activity.

Development and Evolution lab publishes iTRAC, a method for exploiting gene-traps in established and emerging model organisms. Kontarakis et al demonstrate iTRAC in the crustacean Parhyale