Location & approach

By car

The campus of the Technical University of Dortmund is located near the freeway junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerland line A45 crosses the Ruhr expressway B1/A40. The Dortmund-Eichlinghofen exit on the A45 leads to the South Campus, the Dortmund-Dorstfeld exit on the A40 leads to the North Campus. The university is signposted at both exits.

By public transport

The "Dortmund Universität" S-Bahn station is located directly on the North Campus. From there, the S-Bahn line S1 runs every 15 or 30 minutes to Dortmund main station and in the opposite direction to Düsseldorf main station via Bochum, Essen and Duisburg. In addition, the university can be reached by bus lines 445, 447 and 462. Timetable information can be found on the homepage of the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association, and DSW21 also offer an interactive route network map.

The H-Bahn (Suspended monorail system)

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dortmund Universität S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.

By plane

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

Plan of site & interactive map

The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".

> Go to interactive map

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Location & approach

By car

The campus of the Technical University of Dortmund is located near the freeway junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerland line A45 crosses the Ruhr expressway B1/A40. The Dortmund-Eichlinghofen exit on the A45 leads to the South Campus, the Dortmund-Dorstfeld exit on the A40 leads to the North Campus. The university is signposted at both exits.

By public transport

The "Dortmund Universität" S-Bahn station is located directly on the North Campus. From there, the S-Bahn line S1 runs every 15 or 30 minutes to Dortmund main station and in the opposite direction to Düsseldorf main station via Bochum, Essen and Duisburg. In addition, the university can be reached by bus lines 445, 447 and 462. Timetable information can be found on the homepage of the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association, and DSW21 also offer an interactive route network map.

The H-Bahn (Suspended monorail system)

The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dortmund Universität S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.

By plane

The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.

Plan of site & interactive map

The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent "Technologiepark".

> Go to interactive map

ServicePortal UniMail

Professorship
Prof. Dr. Stephan Lütz is head of bioprocess engineering at TU Dortmund University.
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Teaching
Bioprocess Engineering offers numerous courses. In addition, students can write their theses here.
Research
Bioprocess Engineering conducts research on a wide range of topics related to biotechnological processes.

Cell-free protein synthesis

For the development of bioprocesses, the screening of suitable biocatalysts is essential and a complex task [1]. Therefore, the aim of my study is to develop a high-throughput screening system for biocatalysts. The speed-limiting step in biocatalyst library generation is usually heterologous expression and protein purification. Therefore, the use of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) in an automated setup can circumvent this bottleneck and increase the efficiency of bioprocess development.

Infographic on the research on in vitro protein synthesis — The principle of cell-free protein synthesis. The cell-free extract contains the machinery for the coupled transcription and translation reaction; the DNA template consists of regulatory sequences and encodes the target protein; the energy mix contains building blocks for mRNA and protein synthesis as well as components for energy recovery and complementary substances.

Cell-free systems have been used for protein synthesis for decades and offer a wide range of applications and several advantages over heterologous expression. Proteins can be produced from DNA templates within a few hours with concentrations in the milligram per milliliter range [2]. The CFPS mix consists of three parts:

A cell-free extract containing all the necessary components for the coupled transcription and translation machinery, such as ribosomes, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and translation factors for initiation, elongation, and product release.
The DNA template containing the gene of interest.
An energy mix with the building blocks for mRNA and protein synthesis, as well as additional cofactors and supplements.

Rational improvement of the complementary components leads to systems that enable novel CFPS applications beyond pure research interests. Therefore, the integration of CFPS into platforms for high-throughput enzyme screening and analysis can serve as a powerful and versatile tool for the rapid discovery of new candidates or improved biocatalyst variants.

[1] Lütz, S., Giver, L., & Lalonde, J. (2008). Engineered enzymes for chemical production. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 101(4), 647-653. doi [2] Caschera, F., & Noireaux, V. (2014). Synthesis of 2.3 mg/ml of protein with an all Escherichia coli cell-free transcription-translation system. Biochimie, 99(1), 162-168. doi