U. Benjamin Kaupp, Forschungszentrum caesar, Department I (Molecular Sensory Systems) and University of Cologne

Study of cellular signalling in sensory cells and neurons. Biophysics of ion channels and membrane receptors. Chemo-sensation of sperm. Molecular neurobiology. Various spectroscopic techniques to study the dynamics of protein function and folding.

Selected Publications

U.B. Kaupp, T. Niidome, T. Tanabe, S. Terada, W. Bönigk, W. Stühmer, N.J. Cook, K. Kangawa, H. Matsuo, T. Hirose, T. Miyata, S. Numa (1989). Primary structure and functional expression from complementary DNA of the rod photoreceptor cyclic GMP-gated channel. Nature 342, 762-766.

R. Gauss, R. Seifert, U.B. Kaupp (1998). Molecular identification of a hyperpolarization-activated channel in sea urchin sperm. Nature 393, 583-587.

H.G. Körschen, M. Beyermann, F. Müller, M. Heck, M. Vantler, K.-W. Koch, R. Kellner, U. Wolfrum, C. Bode, K.P. Hofmann, U.B. Kaupp (1999). Interaction of glutamic-acid-rich proteins with the cGMP signalling pathway in rod photoreceptors. Nature 400, 761-766.

D.R. Stevens, R. Seifert, B. Bufe, F. Müller, E. Kremmer, R. Gauss, W. Meyerhof, U.B. Kaupp, B. Lindemann (2001). Hyperpolarization-activated channels HCN1 and HCN4 mediate responses to sour stimuli. Nature 413, 631-635.

D. Weitz, N. Ficek, E. Kremmer, P.J. Bauer, U.B. Kaupp (2002). Subunit stoichiometry of the CNG channel of rod photoreceptors. Neuron 36, 881-889.

U.B. Kaupp, J. Solzin, E. Hildebrand, J.E. Brown, A. Helbig, V. Hagen, M. Beyermann, F. Pampaloni, I. Weyand (2003). The signal flow and motor response controling chemotaxis of sea urchin sperm. Nature Cell Biology 5, 109-117.

H. Kaneko, I. Putzier, S. Frings, U.B. Kaupp, T. Gensch (2004). Chloride accumulation in mammalian olfactory sensory neurons. J. Neurosci. 24, 7931-7938.

U.B Kaupp, R. Seifert (2002). Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Ion Channels. Physiol. Rev. 82, 769-824.

D. Tränkner, H. Jägle, S. Kohl, E. Apfelstedt-Sylla, L.T. Sharpe, U.B. Kaupp, E. Zrenner, R. Seifert, B. Wissinger (2004). Molecular basis of an inherited form of incomplete achromatopsia. J. Neurosci. 24, 138-147.

T. Strünker, I. Weyand, W. Bönigk, Q. Van, A. Loogen, J.E. Brown, N. Kashikar, V. Hagen, E. Krause, U.B. Kaupp (2006). A K+ -selective cGMP-gated ion channel controls chemosensation of sperm. Nature Cell Biology 8, 1149-1154.

S. Schröder-Lang, M. Schwärzel, R. Seifert, T. Strünker, S. Kateriya, J. Looser, M. Watanabe, U.B. Kaupp, P. Hegemann, G. Nagel (2006). Fast manipulation of cellular cAMP level by light in vivo. Nature Methods 4, 39–42.

D. Harzheim, K.H. Pfeiffer, L. Fabritz, E. Kremmer, T. Buch, A. Waisman, P. Kirchhof, U.B. Kaupp, R. Seifert (2008). Cardiac pacemaker function of HCN4 channels in mice is confined to embryonic development and requires cyclic AMP. EMBO J 27, 692-703

U.B. Kaupp, N. Kashikar, I. Weyand (2008). Mechanisms of sperm chemotaxis. Ann. Rev. Physiol 70, 93-117