The extracellular matrix (ECM) forms the environment in which cells develop, migrate and and live. It is composed of a variety of proteins and proteoglycans that are often very large and have a complex multidomain structure. By way of specific interactions between protein domains these assemble into supra-molecular structures like fibrils or meshworks. Through interactions with cell surface receptors (e.g. integrins or dystroglycan), the ECM provides physical support for cells and mediates a variety of signals that govern cellular differentation, shape and motility. The signals are forwarded from the receptors in part via direct interactions with the cytoskeleton, in part by activation of intracellular signalling cascades.

We are particularly interested in the proteins of the ECM, how their assembly contributes to morphogenesis, and how they influence cellular functions. A second line of research focuses on inherited diseases caused by mutations in ECM-protein encoding genes. As these issues are highly complex, we approach them by combining the tools of protein chemistry, molecular and cell biology and mouse genetics.

Mats Paulsson was born in 1954 in Stockholm and attended schools in Sweden and in the U.S.A. Following basic medical studies, he worked on cartilage proteins as a predoctoral student in the group of Dick Heinegård at the University of Lund After obtaining his doctoral degree in 1983 he went as a postdoc to the lab of Rupert Timpl at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, where he got his introduction into basement membrane biology. In 1986 he moved to the Biocenter of the University of Basel where he had his first independent group and in 1990 to the University of Bern where he was promoted to professor in 1994. In 1995 he accepted the offer to become chairman of the department of medical biochemistry at the University of Cologne. Much of Professor Paulsson's work is integrated into the national priority program (DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm) on "Basement membranes and basement membrane anchorage" and the local priority program (DFG -Sonderforschungsbereich) on "Barrier functions in the skin". The infrastructure for research is to a large extent provided by the "Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne". Mats Paulsson contributes to these programs in various coordinatory functions.