Seal element of the university of freiburg in the shape of a clover

Research Group of Claudine Kraft

Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft

 

Research

Molecular mechanisms of autophagy

Our cells must constantly renew their internal structures in order to remain healthy. The waste produced in the process is broken down through autophagy: cells enclose the waste in membranes and break it down into its basic building blocks, which then can be re-used.

We are researching this vital process. We want to find out how cells decide which structures to break down and which molecules are involved in autophagy. This will also help us to better understand diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer, in which autophagy is altered. We use yeast cells and cell cultures for our research.

Schematic overview autophagy
Microscopy image Autophagy
Fluorescence microscope image: Autophagy molecules (ULK1, green) accumulate at mitochondria (magenta).

Main research areas:

Fluorescence microscopy images: Different stages showing the engulfment of cargo (blue) by an autophagosomal membrane (marked by Atg8, green).

Team

Contact: All email adresses are: firstname.surname1.surname2 (at) biochemie.uni-freiburg.de

Portrait Claudine Kraft

Claudine Kraft
Group leader

portrait Isabel Valiya Parambath

Isabel Valiya Parambath
Lab Manager

Tobias-Duerr-Meyer portrait

Tobias Duerr-Meyer
Postdoc

Franziska Kriegenburg portrait

Franziska Kriegenburg
Postdoc

Hector Mancilla portrait

Hector Mancilla
Postdoc

Riccardo Babic portrait

Riccardo Babic
PhD candidate

portrait of Vanessa Bieberstein

Vanessa Bieberstein
PhD candidate

Joachim Brenneisen portrait

Joachim Brenneisen
PhD candidate

Jana Elsässer portrait

Jana Elsaesser
PhD candidate

Anushree Kelkar portrait

Anushree Kelkar
PhD candidate

Leon Lucya portrait

Leon Lucya
MD candidate

Christoph Reiter portrait

Christoph Reiter
MD candidate

Frédéric Sonak
MD candidate

Kraft Group photo
Kraftlab Retreat 2025

Open positions

We currently have no vacancies.

Students who are interested in writing a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis can contact us by email.

Claudine Kraft CV

Since 2017

Full professor (W3), University of Freiburg

2011-2017

Group leader, MFPL University of Vienna, Austria

2006-2011

Postdoc, ETH Zürich, Switzerland; working group of Matthias Peter

2001-2005

Phd candidate, IMP Vienna, Austria; working group of Jan-Michael Peters

2000-2001

Diploma, University of Manchester, UK; working group of Steve High

1997-2001

Bachelor studies, University ofBasel, Switzerland

Linoldruck der Hundertwasser Müllverbrennungsanlage in Wien
Waste incineration plant Vienna Spittelau designed by F. Hundertwasser. Linoleum print by Veronika Nogellova

Funding

The Kraft working group receives research funding through the following funding programmes:

By the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)

By the European Union

By further funding programmes

  • European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Young Investigator Support for Claudine Kraft since 2015
  • COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) COST Action CA15138: “TRANSAUTOPHAGY” 2015-2020
  • Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Principal Investigator funds for Claudine Kraft 2013-2017 and 2015-2019
  • Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) Starting grant for Claudine Kraft 2011-2019
DFG logo
SFB1177 logo
SFB 1381 Logo
ProtPath Logo
Exzellenzcluster CIBSS logo
ERC logo
Marie Curie Actions logo
EMBO logo

Publications

Licheva M*, Pflaum J*, Babic R*, Mancilla M*, Elsässer J, Boyle E, Hollenstein D, Jimenez J, Pleyer J, Heinrich M, Wieland FG, Brenneisen J, Eickhorst C, Brenner J, Jiang S, Hartl M, Welsch S, Hunte C, Timmer J, Wilfling F*, and Kraft C* (2025). Phase separation of initiation hubs on cargo is a trigger switch for selective autophagy. Nature Cell Biology. DOI: 10.1038/s41556-024-01572-y

Eickhorst C*, Babic R*, Rush-Kittle J, Lucya L, Imam FL, Sanchez-Martin P, Hollenstein D, Michaelis J, Münch C, Meisinger C, Slade D, Gamez-Diaz L*, and Kraft C* (2024). FIP200 phosphorylation regulates late steps in mitophagy. Journal of Molecular Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2024.168631

Bhattacharya A, Raffaela Torggler R, Reiter W, Romanov N, Licheva M, Ciftci A, Mari M, Kolb L, Kaiser D, Reggiori F, Ammerer G, Hollenstein D*, and Kraft C* (2024). Decoding the function of Atg13 phosphorylation reveals a role of Atg11 in bulk autophagy initiation. EMBO Rep. DOI : 10.1038/s44319-023-00055-9

Sanchez-Martin P*, Kriegenburg F*, Alves L, Adam J, Elsaesser J, Babic R, Mancilla H, Licheva M, Tascher G, Münch C, Eimer S, and Kraft C (2023). ULK1-mediated phosphorylation regulates the conserved role of YKT6 in autophagosome-lysosome fusion. Journal of Cell Science. DOI: 10.1242/jcs.260546

Hollenstein D*, Licheva M*, Konradi N, Schweida D, Mancilla H, Mari M, Reggiori F, and Kraft C (2021). Spatial control of avidity regulates initiation and progression of selective autophagy. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27420-3

Barz S*, Kriegenburg F*, Henning A, Bhattacharya A, Mancilla H, Sánchez-Martín P, and Kraft C (2020). Atg1 kinase regulates autophagosome-vacuole fusion by controlling SNARE bundling. EMBO Reports. DOI: 10.15252/embr.202051869

Hollenstein D, Gómez‐Sánchez R, Ciftci A, Kriegenburg F, Mari M, Torggler R, Licheva M, Reggiori F, and Kraft C (2019). Vac8 establishes an autophagosome formation site between the vacuole and the ER. Journal of Cell Science DOI: 10.1242/jcs.235002  

Bas L, Papinski D, Licheva M, Torggler R, Rohringer S, Schuschnig M, and Kraft C (2018). Reconstitution reveals Ykt6 as the autophagosomal SNARE in autophagosome-vacuole fusion. Journal of Cell Biology. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201804028

Torggler R*, Papinski D*, Brach T*, Bas L, Schuschnig M, Pfaffenwimmer T, Rohringer S, Matzhold T, Schweida D, Brezovich A and Kraft C (2016). Two Independent Pathways within Selective Autophagy Converge to Activate Atg1 Kinase at the Vacuole. Molecular Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2016.09.008

Brezovich A, Schuschnig M, Ammerer G, and Kraft C (2015). An in vivo detection system for transient and low abundant protein interactions and their kinetics in budding yeast. Yeast. DOI: 10.1002/yea.3063

Pfaffenwimmer T, Reiter W, Brach T, Nogellova V, Papinski D, Schuschnig M, Abert C, Ammerer G, Martens S and Kraft C (2014). The Hrr25 kinase promotes selective autophagy by phosphorylating the cargo-receptor Atg19. EMBO Reports. DOI: 10.15252/embr.201438932

Papinski D, Schuschnig M, Reiter W, Wilhelm L, Barnes C, Majolica A, Hansmann I, Pfaffenwimmer T, Kijanska M, Stoffel I, Lee SS, Brezovich A, Lou HJ, Turk BE, Aebersold R, Ammerer G, Peter M and Kraft C (2014). Early steps in autophagy depend on direct phosphorylation of Atg9 by the Atg1 kinase. Molecular Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2013.12.011