Pathogenic mycobacteria have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to subvert the human immune defence. Sebastian Geibel aims to understand one of their most important mechanisms: the secretion of proteins by the type VII secretion system.

More information about Sebastian Geibel

Biography

Dr. Sebastian Geibel (1977) studied Biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin from 2003-2006. As PhD student in the group of Prof. Wolfram Saenger in Berlin (2006-2009) he pursued structure function studies on the DNA replication mechanism of broad host range plasmids. His postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Gabriel Waksman (Birkbeck College, London; 2010-2014) has had a major impact on the elucidation of the assembly and secretion mechanisms of adhesive pili, which are employed by Uropathogenic Escherichia coli to bind and invade epithelial cells of the urinary tract.

In 2014, he set up his research group at the University of Würzburg (Germany) to investigate type VII secretion systems (T7SS). These systems play major roles in the pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the main causative agent of tuberculosis, and of the human opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. The group aims to understand how such secretion machines work, to elucidate the molecular functions of secreted effector proteins and to explore these insights for therapeutic purpose. To do this, the lab combines structural (cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography) with biochemical and microbiological methods. The group was first to resolve the molecular architecture of the mycobacterial T7SS and provided first insights into the mechanisms of substrate recognition, assembly and bacterial killing by the T7SSb from S. aureus.

In 2022 he was appointed an Associate Professor at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry. At Leiden University his research will focus on understanding mechanisms of microbial virulence with focus on host pathogen communication in tuberculosis.

Curriculum Vitae

Personal information

Nationality:   German

Education

2010   PhD, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Free University Berlin, Germany, 10 September, 2010. Thesis title: “Structure and function of primase RepB’ encoded by the broad host range plasmid RSF1010”
Supervisor: Prof. W. Saenger
2006   Diploma in Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Free University Berlin, Germany

Current and previous research positions

2022 – now    Associate Professor (tenured), Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, The Netherlands
2014 – 2021   Junior Research Group Leader, Elite Network Bavaria, Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Würzburg, Germany
2010 – 2014   Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Biological Science, Birkbeck College, United Kingdom (Prof. G. Waksman)
2006 – 2010   Graduate student, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Free University Berlin, Germany (Prof. W. Saenger)

Grants, awards, recognitions

2022    LIC 1e GS (1 PhD position)

Contribution to teaching and supervision

• Course for MSc Chemistry: Macromolecular Crystallography
• Course for BSc Chemistry: Bioinformatics- Structural Analysis

Supervision of 3 PhD students and 1 MSc student.

Other current responsibilities

• Reviewer for Nature, Nature Communications, American Chemical Society Omega, eLife, ReviewCommons, Federation of American Societies For Experimental Biology Journal, Journal of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
• Reviewer for Welcome Trust, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, The French National Academy of Sciences, German Research Foundation

Publication record including five recent representative publications

21 papers with >1100 citations, H-index 13 (Web of Science)

Full publication record: Leiden University

• N. Famelis, S. Geibel, D. van Tol, Mycobacterial type VII secretion systems. Biological Chemistry, 2023, 404 (7), 691-702. DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2022-0350
• S. Banchenko, C. Weise, E. Lanka, W. Saenger, S. Geibel, Helix Bundle Domain of Primase RepB′ Is Required for Dinucleotide Formation and Extension. ACS Omega, 2021, 6 (43), 28903-28911. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c03881
• A. Rivera-Calzada, N. Famelis, O. Llorca, S. Geibel, Type VII secretion systems: structure, functions and transport models. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2021, 19 (9), 567-584. DOI: 10.1038/s41579-021-00560-5
• N. Famelis, A. Rivera-Calzada, G. Degliesposti, M. Wingender, N. Mietrach, J. Skehel, R. Fernandez-Leiro, B. Böttcher, A. Schlosser, O. Llorca, S. Geibel, Architecture of the mycobacterial secretion system. Nature, 2019, 576 (7786), 321-325. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1633-1
• B. Mielich-Süss, R.M. Wagner, N. Mietrach, T. Hertlein, G. Marincola, N. Mietrach, T. Hertlein, G. Marincola, K. Ohlsen, S. Geibel, D. Lopez, Flotillin scaffold activity contributes to type VII secretion system assembly in Staphylococcus aureus. PLoS pathogens, 2017, 13 (11), e1006728. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006728

Presentations including five presentations at international conferences

~20 invited presentations at universities and institutes since 2010

• ISMB Symposium, London (07-08.01.2021)
• Transport Colloquium, Rauischholzhausen, Germany (22-24.04.2020)

Publications