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CSSB: Newsletter 16

CSSB now has 10 partners and 14 group leaders! In July, CSSB welcomed Research Center Borstel FZB as a full partner and, in October, we welcomed Charlotte Uetrecht as a new group leader. In August, we also held our first in-person event since the start of the corona virus pandemic, a panel discussion about emerging infections.

On December 9, we are looking forward to hosting our first one-day, CSSB Networking Symposium featuring speakers from our Scientific Advisory Board. We hope you will join us for this exciting, virtual event which will provide insights into infection research at several renowned institutions.

CSSB NEWS

IMAGE: DESY/Marta Meyer

CSSB Welcomes Charlotte Uetrecht

On October 1, 2021, Prof. Charlotte Uetrecht began working at CSSB. Prof. Uetrecht has a joint appointment from the University of Siegen, where she is a W2 professor of Biochemistry, and the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI). Prof. Uetrecht’s group is affiliated with the European XFEL and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) and located at CSSB. She leads a team of scientists that will investigate the structural dynamics of viral protein complexes.

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IMAGE: Jens Bosse and Holger Sondermann. Created with BioRender.com

Collaborative CSSB project funded by Hamburg-X

CSSB's collaborative project "Multiscale analysis of pathogen invasion strategies into clinically-relevant host cells" has been awarded funding from Hamburg’s state research funding (Landesforschungsförderung Hamburg) Hamburg-X supported project "Infection Research (Hamburg Infection Control)." This ambitious project, involving eight CSSB groups and three facilities, aims not only to investigate pathogen invasion strategies but also to increase synergies at CSSB and lay the groundwork for future cooperative initiatives.

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IMAGE: CSSB

Virtual SAB Meeting

The 2021 Scientific Advisory Board meeting took place virtually from 2-3 September. The first day of the meeting focused on developments and scientific achievements at CSS Band the second day focused on our core facilities.

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Panel Discussion: Emerging Infections

On 23 August, CSSB and the Academy of Science and Humanities in Hamburg hosted a panel discussion entitled "Emerging Infections - What have we learned from COVID-19?" Thirty-five pre-registered guests attended the panel discussion in person while another 190 individuals followed the discussion via live-stream. Panel members included Prof. Dr. Nicole Fischer, Dr. Christian Löw, Prof. Dr. Thomas Mettenleiter, and Prof. Dr. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit. A video of the discussion is available via the below link.

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IMAGE: Kerstin Pukall

Together against infectious diseases! The FZB becomes a full partner at CSSB.

After five years of successful cooperation as associated partner, the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center became a full member of CSSB on 1 July 2021. The contract for this future cooperation was signed at a ceremony on 7 July 2021.

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3D-CLEM of HCMV infected HFF cell marking UL112-113 in the viral replication compartment. IMAGE: Timothy Soh, Felix Flomm and Enrico Caragliano

Jens Bosse part of new DFG Research Unit

CSSB group leader Jens Bosse is part of the DFG Research Unit "Disrupt-Evade-Exploit: Gene Expression and Host Response Programming in DNA Virus Infection (DEEP-DV)". The Research Unit seeks to understand the strategies used by DNA viruses in the course of a new infection to manipulate, circumvent or exploit cellular gene expression for their own purposes.

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UPCOMING CSSB EVENTS

Upcoming CSSB Seminars on 4 Nov

On 4 November 2021, Neil Ranson from the University of Leeds will give a CSSB Seminar. All are welcome to attend!

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CSSB Networking Symposium

SAVE THE DATE! The first CSSB Networking Symposium will take place on 9 December 2021 from 9:00 - 17:00. This will be a virtual symposium highlighting the research of our SAB members and their institutes.

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SCIENTIFIC NEWS

Adler A. et al. (2021) Cell Chemical Bio.

Promising new antimalarial compound discovered

Scientist from CSSB’s Gilberger group (BNITM and UHH) and collaborators from the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada have discovered a promising new antimalarial compound.

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IMAGE: Silvia Burastero and Creative Team/EMBL

Biophysics analysis made easy with an online tool

The GarcĂ­a Alai Team (EMBL Hamburg) has released eSPC, a freely available online platform for analysing molecular biophysics data from a range of experimental techniques. The tool enables scientists around the world to easily analyse their data without the need to travel to the laboratory where the data was generated.

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IMAGE: Holger Sondermann

New insights into bacterial dinucleotidases

Based on a new structure-function study the Sondermann group (DESY) in collaboration with groups at the University of Maryland and Cornell University (USA) defined the function of NrnC-type RNases, essential enzymes that catalyze the last step of RNA degradation in many bacteria.

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IMAGE: Linda Franken

Human Adenovirus: Promising Target for Treatment Identified

In a collaborative study, researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI), including CSSB group leader Jens Bosse (MHH, HPI), used a 3D organoid model of the intestine to investigate how natural killer cells recognize and kill intestinal epithelial cells infected with human adenoviruses. In doing so, they succeeded in identifying a new target that may pose a candidate for immune therapies for children with severe adenovirus infections after stem cell transplantation.

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IMAGE: Maya Topf and Sony Malhotra

New Score Assesses Protein-Protein Interfaces

The Topf group (HPI, UKE), at the Centre for Structural Systems Biology CSSB, has created a score to assess protein-protein interactions in the structures of macromolecular assemblies derived from cryo-EM maps.

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IMAGE: Isabel Romero Calvo/EMBL

Structural biology reveals new opportunities to combat tuberculosis

The CSSB group from Jan Kosinski (EMBL) and the EMBL-Hamburg group from Matthias Wilmanns have determined the detailed structure of a bacterial protein complex critical for tuberculosis infection

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Contact Information

Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB)
c/o DESY, Building 15
Notkestr. 85
22607 Hamburg
Germany
E-mail: info@cssb-hamburg.de

To find out more about CSSB please visit our website:
www.cssb-hamburg.de
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All partners act exclusively in their own name and on their own account.