Moritz Schäffler

PhD Student

Curriculum Vitae

since 2021
PhD student at the Computational Biochemistry Group at IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.

2018 – 2021
MSc in Physics at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany.
The MSc research project was on the topic “Memory Effects of Non-Equilibrium Processes in a Polymer Melt”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Tanja Schilling.

2014 – 2017
BSc in Physics at Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany.
The BSc research project was on the topic “Targeted Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Unbinding of the S-Petptide from RNaseS”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Stock.

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Research interests

Utilize molecular dynamics simulations to investigate:

  • Aggregation and conformation switching of intrinsically disordered proteins
  • Energylandscapes of intrinsically disordered proteins

PhD Project

The aggregation of peptides into amyloid fibrils has been associated with numerous diseases, most notably Alzheimer disease. Therefore, there has been excessive research into the conditions under which such aggregates form and what mechanism drives the process. In this context, Intrisically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) have shown a prospensity towards forming amyloid structures. My research focuses specifically on the aggregation mechanism of  intrisically disordered proteins, employing Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to study the underlying free energy landscape.

Publications

Transition Networks Unveil Disorder-to-Order Transformations in Aβ Caused by Glycosaminoglycans or Lipids
M. Schäffler, S. Samantray, B. Strodel
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023)

Domain motions, dimerization, and membrane interactions of the murine guanylate binding protein 2
J. Loschwitz, N. Steffens, X. Wang, M. Schäffler, K. Pfeffer, D. Degrandi, B. Strodel
Scientific Reports 13 (1), 1-20 (2023)

ATRANET – Automated generation of transition networks for the structural characterization of intrinsically disordered proteins
M. Schäffler, M. Khaled, B. Strodel
Methods 206, 18-26, (2022)

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