Collaborators

Uta Reibetanz
Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

The collaboration with Uta is based on interdisciplinary research questions involving the use of layer-by-layer (LbL) particles as a delivery vesicle for primary cells such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Moreover, the accessibility of iPSCs to LbL particles was contrasted to virus particles to identify general entry restrictions posed by cellular structures. Our recent collaboration was focused on the use of viruses as a surface functionalization of LbL particles. More information on LbL particles can be found at https://biophysik.medizin.uni-leipzig.de/forschungresearch/pd-dr-uta-reibetanz/.

Judith M. Hübschen and Annette Mankertz
WHO European Regional Reference Laboratory for Measles and Rubella, Department of Infection and Immunity, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Esch-Sur-Alzette, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
and
WHO European and National Reference Centre Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Robert Koch Institute Regional Reference Laboratory for Measles and Rubella, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Judith and Annette have supported my research through the provision of valuable clinical isolates of RV and insights on RV epidemiology. With Annette I have worked on the characterization of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) as a cell culture model for RV.

Michael Sieg
Institute of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, Germany

Usutu virus is a new emerging virus in Germany. With our collaboration we aim to investigate its association with bird mortality and avian disease.

Matthias Jung
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, University Clinic and Outpatient Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatic Medicine, Halle, Germany

From Matthias I have learned cultivation of iPSCs and to keep calm during the drawbacks I have encountered in this process. The combination of stem cell biology and congenital virology is challenging, but opens up exciting possibilities.

Giada Frascaroli
Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Heinrich Pette Institute, Hamburg, Germany

Our collaboration was aimed at virus family-independent mechanisms of virus-host-interaction, especially in the course of infection of human monocyte-derived macrophages.   

Sandra Pinkert
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Institute of Biochemistry, Berlin, Germany

Sandra supported our study on the knock-down of the cellular protein p32 by adenoviral vectors. Our recent collaboration involved the infection of iPSCs with recombinant coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a tag. This was performed to elucidate the overall accessibility of iPSC colonies to the infection with virus particles and to compare the pattern of infection of CVB3-EGFP to rubella virus (RV).

André Seifert

My special thanks go to André Seifert for his graphical work on the logo of my website and the design of the 3D RV particles. His graphical work is based on cryo-electron tomography images of RV published by the group of M. G. Rossmann (DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1006377).