Prof. Dr. Rita Gerardy-Schahn participates in RESIST research project C3.
| My Research Interest in RESIST |
“Cells from the outside are sugar”. This is a standing rule for which exceptions do not exist. Linked to lipids and proteins at cell surfaces, sugars (glycans) form the outermost front of cells, the glycocalyx, a structure destined to mediate cellular communication in all living systems and, of relevance in RESIST, a structure essentially involved in the control of immune and (by all likelihood 100 %) infection mechanisms. Moreover, glycans present on bacterial cells and/or supplied as food substituents forage the gut microbiome and impact its composition. Finally, secreted glycan polymers form the basis of biofilm matrices used by pathogens to escape therapeutic measures.
Together with researchers in RESIST we will introduce our molecular knowledge on glycosylation enzymes to solve questions of clinical relevance. The long term goal is to establish a rational basis for the design of drugs that would allow destruction of biofilms and prevention of pathogen adhesion – the first step in infection – to mammalian cells.
Prof. Gerardy-Schahn about her scientific work
Prof. Dr. Gerardy-Schahn – Curriculum Vitae
Current Position
Since 2000 Full (C4) Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry; Director Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, MHH
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Training
1985 Diploma in Biochemistry, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany
1989 Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.; Supervisor Prof. Dr. med. D. Bitter-Suermann)
1997 Habilitation (Supervisor Prof. Dr. med D. Bitter-Suermann)
Academic and Research Posts
1989 – 1990 Postdoctorate, Supervisor Prof. B. Fleischer, I. Med. Klinik, Mainz University, Germany
1991 – 1999 Research Follow, Institute for Medical Microbiology, MHH, Germany
2000 Call Professor (C3) Biochemistry, University Hamburg; offer declined, Germany
2000 – 2004 Professor (C3), head Institute for Cellular Chemistry, MHH, Germany
2005 Call Professor (C4) Biochemistry, University Bielefeld; offer declined, Germany
2005 – 2016 Professor (C4), head Institute for Cellular Chemistry, MHH, Germany
Since 2017 Professor (C4), head Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, MHH, Germany
Other Scientific Roles
Since 1995 Ad Hoc Reviewer for various national and international foundations and journals
2004 – 2010 Coordinator DFG Research Unit 548
2008 – 2017 Member Study Section Molecular Biology, German Research Foundation
Since 2011 Editorial board member, Society for Glycobiology
2011 – 2014 Coordinator ERA-Net Neuron
2014 – 2018 Board of Directors, Society for Glycobiology
Since 2016 Editorial board member, Journal of Biological Chemistry
Awards and Prizes
1995 Sir Hans Krebs Prize, MHH
1999 SmithKline Beechem Preis
2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies, FEBS National Lecture, French Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2016 Peter Gallagher Memorial Lecture; Glycomics week Griffith University, Australia
Patents
Fiebig T, Keys T, Freiberger F, Romanow A, Bethe A, Berger M, Gerardy-Schahn R. WO 2015158898 A3: Means and methods for producing Neisseria meningitidis capsular polysaccharides of low dispersity.
Gerardy-Schahn R, Kühnel F, Martin N, Schwarzer D. WO 2016156239 A1: Anti-tumour medicament based on adenovirus.
10 Selected Publications (of > 225 original publications)
Martin NT, Wrede C, Niemann J, Brooks J, Schwarzer D, Kühnel F, Gerardy-Schahn R. Targeting polysialic acid- abundant cancers using oncolytic adenoviruses with fibers fused to active bacteriophage borne endosialidase. Biomaterials. 2018; 158: 86-94.
Fiebig T, Romano MR, Oldrini D, Adamo R, Tontini M, Brogioni B, Santini L, Berger M, Costantino P, Berti F, Gerardy-Schahn R. An efficient cell free enzyme-based total synthesis of a meningococcal vaccine candidate. NPJ Vaccines 2016; 1: 16017.
Kallolimath S, Castilho A, Strasser R, Grünwald-Gruber C, Altmann F, Strubl S, Galuska CE, Zlatina K, Galuska SP, Werner S, Thiesler H, Werneburg S, Hildebrandt H, Gerardy-Schahn R, Steinkellner H. Engineering of complex protein sialylation in plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016; 113(34): 9498-503.
Romanow A, Keys TG, Stummeyer K, Freiberger F, Henrissat B, Gerardy-Schahn R. Dissection of hexosyl-and sialyltransferase domains in the bifunctional capsule polymerases from Neisseria meningitidis W and Y defines a new sialyltransferase family. J Bio Chem. 2014; 289(49): 33945-57.
Keys TG, Fuchs HL, Ehrit J, Alves J, Freiberger F, Gerardy-Schahn R. Engineering the product profile of a polysialyltransferase. Nat Chem Biol. 2014; 10(6): 437-42.
Romanow A, Haselhorst T, Stummeyer K, Claus H, Bethe A, Mühlenhoff M, Vogel U, von Itzstein M, Gerardy- Schahn R. Deleterious mutations in LRBA are associated with a syndrome of immune deficiency and autoimmunity. J Biol Chem. 2013; 288(17): 11718-30.
Hildebrandt H, Mühlenhoff M, Oltmann-Norden I, Röckle I, Burkhardt H, Weinhold B, Gerardy-Schahn R. Imbalance of neural cell adhesion molecule and polysialyltransferase alleles causes defective brain connectivity. Brain. 2009; 132(Pt 10): 2831-8.
Eckhardt M, Gotza B, Gerardy-Schahn R. Membrane topology of the mammalian CMP-sialic acid transporter. J Biol Chem. 1999; 274(13):8779-87.
Münster AK, Eckhardt M, Potvin B, Mühlenhoff M, Stanley P, Gerardy-Schahn R. Mammalian cytidine 5’- monophosphate N-acetylneuraminic acid synthetase: a nuclear protein with evolutionarily conserved structural motifs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95(16): 9140-5.
Eckhardt M, Mühlenhoff M, Bethe A, Koopman J, Frosch M, Gerardy-Schahn R. Molecular characterisation of eukaryotic polysialyltransferase-1. Nature. 1995; 373(6516): 715-8.
