Allosteric substrate release by a sialic acid TRAP transporter substrate binding protein.
Communications biology
View this publicationInstitute of Structural Biology
University Bonn, Institute of Structural Biology, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, D-53127 Bonn
The research in my group focuses on two related topics. The first topic is bacterial immunity. The discovery of CRISPR defense systems has shown that bacteria have very complicated immune systems that protect the microorganisms from attack by phages, i.e. viruses that are specialized to infect bacteria. In addition to CRISPR, there are many other bacterial defense systems, many of which are strikingly similar to parts of the human immune system.
The second theme is the interface between pathogens and our immune system, such as the tricks that pathogens use to evade the latter. One example is a process by which pathogens such as Haemophilus influenzae scavenge a sugar molecule called sialic acid from our tissues and incorporate it into their cell wall to hide from our immune system.
Using general biochemistry and structural biology, we are trying to understand these systems and learn about the origin and function of our immune system.
Recent publications
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Cryo-EM structure of the human native plasma coagulation factor XIII complex.
Blood
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Pulse EPR Methods in the Angstrom to Nanometre Scale Shed Light on the Conformational Flexibility of a Fluoride Riboswitch.
Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)
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