Young Scientist Award of the GDCh Division of Biochemistry

For the first time in 2024, the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society awarded two fully funded prizes. These were presented to Dr. Davide Tamborrini and Dr. Minh Nguyen Trung on 1 October 2024 at Biochemistry 2024 in Dortmund.

Dr. Davide Tamborrini: “Awarded in recognition of his doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Structural Investigation of the Relaxed Cardiac Sarcomere by Electron Cryo-Tomography’, completed in the working group of Prof. Dr. Stefan Raunser at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund.” Dr. Tamborrini determined high-resolution structures of native thick myosin filaments in the cardiac muscle of mice, thereby answering questions that had remained unresolved for decades. The structures revealed the three-dimensional organisation of myosin, titin and myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C), and showed that MyBP-C bridges thin and thick filaments. The arrangement of the proteins differs completely from previous predictions and explains important mechanistic features of muscle contraction and its regulation. The results of his valuable work are paradigmatic and open the door to a new world of muscle research, both for understanding how muscles function and for finding treatments for diseases.”

Dr. Minh Nguyen Trung: “Awarded in recognition of his doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Elucidation of Inositol Polyphosphate Dephosphorylation Pathways Using Stable-Isotope Labelling and NMR Spectroscopy’, completed in the working group of Prof. Dr. Dorothea Fiedler at the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin. Minh Nguyen Trung developed an innovative analytical method that combines targeted ¹³C isotope labelling with NMR spectroscopy to elucidate inositol phosphate metabolism both biochemically and in complex biological samples. His method closes a technical gap and opens up prospects for future research in many fields, including the study of inositol phosphate-dependent hereditary diseases and the metabolism of the human microbiome.”

The Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was shared and presented to Dr. Jan Felber and Dr. Wout Oosterheert on 5 September 2023 at the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry in Leipzig.

"The award is presented to Dr. Jan Felber in recognition of his dissertation, entitled „Rational development of stabilized cyclic disulfide redox probes and bioreductive prodrugs to target dithiol oxidoreductases.”, completed in the working group of Dr Oliver Thorn-Seshold at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Through the systematic development of complex disulfide structures and their use for the cellular activation of novel molecular probes by specialised oxidoreductases, Jan Felber has made a substantial contribution to a better understanding of enzyme cascades in redox biochemistry. His work also promises considerable potential, owing to the modularity of the molecular system, for the targeted activation of medicines using such disulfide units."

"The award is presented to Dr. Wout Oosterheert in recognition of his publication, entitled „Structural basis of actin filament assembly and aging.”, completed in the working group of Prof. Dr. Stefan Raunser at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund and published in the journal Nature."
In this work, Wout Oosterheert determined high-resolution cryo-EM structures of F-actin in all nucleotide states, making it possible for the first time to visualise hundreds of water molecules in the filament. His resulting elucidation of the ATP hydrolysis mechanism of F-actin represents a milestone in more than a century of physiological and biochemical muscle and cytoskeleton research. His work also provides a valuable basis for the development of actin-binding molecules that can be tailored for imaging and therapeutic applications."

The Young Scientist Award of the Biochemistry Division of the German Chemical Society was shared and presented to Dr. Goran Kokic and Dr. Sabrina Pospich on 30 June 2022 at the Division conference “Biochemistry 2022” in Münster.

"The award is presented to Dr. Goran Kokic in recognition of his publication, produced in the working group of Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and published in the journal Nature, entitled “Structural basis of human transcription – DNA repair coupling” Nature 2021, 598, 368. This work is particularly notable because it provided the first detailed structural insights into the molecular coupling of gene transcription with DNA repair in eukaryotic cells. In particular, biochemical investigations were combined with cryo-electron microscopy studies of large transient multiprotein–nucleic acid complexes in such a way that a multistep molecular model for transcription–repair coupling could be established. The work is also relevant to adjacent research fields. For example, initial insights were gained into the structural basis of the ubiquitination of a large multiprotein complex substrate, thereby laying the foundation for further investigation of the regulation of transcription–repair coupling."

"The award is presented to Dr. Sabrina Pospich in recognition of her dissertation, produced in the working group of Prof. Dr. Stefan Raunser at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, entitled “Deciphering the structural effect of nucleotide hydrolysis and small molecule binding on actin and myosin”. In her doctoral thesis, Ms Pospich investigated the proteins actin and myosin, two fundamental components of the cytoskeleton and muscle, using cryo-electron microscopy. With great skill, she determined a large number of high-resolution three-dimensional structures of actin filaments with various ligands or myosin, thereby gaining important insights into biologically and medically relevant processes. Her work makes a decisive contribution to the molecular understanding of cardiomyopathies and other muscle diseases."

The 2020 Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was shared and presented to Dr. Mohammad Ghaem Maghami and Dr. Linlin Zhang at the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry 2021.

The award is presented to Dr. Mohammad Ghaem Maghami in recognition of his dissertation on the topic: “Development, characterization, and application of RNA catalysts for in situ labeling of target RNA molecules”. In his work, Mr Ghaem Maghami used in vitro selection to develop new ribozymes for the position-specific labelling and modification of RNA. This provides powerful tools for the bioorthogonal derivatisation of RNA, which will be used in chemical and biological studies of functional RNAs. The dissertation was completed in the working group of Prof. Dr. Claudia Höbartner at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg.

The award is presented to Dr. Linlin Zhang in recognition of her publication entitled: “Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease provides a basis for design of improved α-ketoamide inhibitors”. With this work, Dr Zhang created the basis for the structure-based design of anti-coronavirus drugs, the first of which are already undergoing clinical trials. The publication was produced in the working group of Prof. Dr. Rolf Hilgenfeld at the University of Lübeck.

The 2020 Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was shared and presented to Maximilian Fottner and Dr. Marc-André Kasper at the “Advances in Chemical Biology” Conference in Frankfurt on 27 January 2021.

The award is presented to Maximilian Fottner in recognition of his publication entitled: “Site-specific ubiquitylation and SUMOylation using genetic-code expansion and sortase”. In his doctoral thesis, Maximilian Fottner worked on innovative and interdisciplinary strategies for the site-specific modification of proteins. In the award-winning work, Mr Fottner developed a pioneering and promising method for specifically and selectively equipping proteins – both in vitro and in living mammalian cells – with the small labelling protein ubiquitin. This enabled him to develop an extremely powerful tool for analysing the biological functions and consequences of these highly important post-translational modifications.

The award is presented to Dr. Marc-André Kasper in recognition of his dissertation entitled: “Chemoselective synthesis of functional drug conjugates”. In his work, Dr. Kasper developed a new cysteine-selective reaction for modifying antibodies, known as P5 labelling. Using this method, he produced a new antibody–drug conjugate with better efficacy and stability properties than an already approved medicine.

The 2019 Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was shared and presented to Dr Karolin Wellner, Dr Andreas Blees and Dr Dennis Quentin at the GDCh Science Forum 2019 in Aachen on 16 September 2019.

In her doctoral thesis "Functional analysis of the 3′ end of tRNAs and the importance of ribonucleases for quality control" , Dr Wellner investigated the interplay between opposing enzyme activities involved in the processing and degradation of tRNAs. The opposing activities of the CCA-adding enzyme and RNase T had previously been described as a futile cycle. In highly elegant experiments, Dr Wellner was able to show that these activities provide an important interplay in tRNA quality control. She is an outstanding experimentalist and interprets her data with the utmost caution and entirely free from any “overselling” – an important quality for a serious scientist.

The award is presented to Dr Quentin in recognition of his dissertation on the topic: "Structural studies on the Type VI secretion system and human CLN3p". Both his work on the human CLN3 protein and the newly gained insights into the bacterial Type VI secretion system, which Dr Quentin provided using cryo-electron microscopy, make a decisive contribution to the molecular understanding of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) and bacterial infections. The dissertation was completed in the working group of Prof. Dr Stefan Raunser at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund.

To Dr Andreas Blees in recognition of his publication on the topic: “Structure of the human MHC-I peptide-loading complex”. The adaptive immune system is responsible for recognising malignant or infected cells. A malfunction can lead to chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Using innovative strategies, Dr Blees succeeded in preparing the antigen transport and loading complex responsible for immune recognition and elucidating its structure. These groundbreaking findings will find their way into textbooks, as they make a decisive contribution to our understanding of cellular immune defence.

The 2018 Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was presented to Dr. Doreen Könning and Dr. Schara Safarian at the international conference “8th Peptide Engineering Meeting” (PEM 8) in Berlin on 9 November 2018.

In her doctoral thesis “Engineered shark antibody domains for biotechnological and biomedical applications” , Dr. Könning conducted pioneering research at the interface of biochemistry, pharmaceutical research and immunobiology. She developed methods for generating customised antibodies that open up new possibilities in drug production, medical diagnostics and cancer therapy. Her research approach considerably simplifies the isolation of binding molecules for diagnostic applications in particular, while also laying the foundation for new therapeutic approaches in personalised immunotherapy.

In his doctoral thesis “Structure of a bd oxidase indicates similar mechanisms for membrane-integrated oxygen reductases" , Dr. Safarian conducted pioneering research at the interface between biochemistry and structural biology. His work on the crystallisation and structural elucidation of a microbial cytochrome bd oxidase provides new insights into its structure and function. This protein complex is of fundamental importance in bioenergetics and plays an important role in the pathogenicity of bacterial pathogens. Through his work, Dr. Safarian established an essential knowledge base for the structure-based development of drugs to treat bacterial infections.

The 2017 Young Scientist Award of the Division of Biochemistry of the German Chemical Society was presented to Dr Josephin Marie Holstein and Dr Jian Lei on the occasion of the GDCh Science Forum on 13 September 2017 in Berlin.

In her doctoral research, Dr Holstein conducted groundbreaking research at the interface between chemistry and biology in the field of “The 5'-cap of eukaryotic mRNAs as a starting point for chemo-enzymatic labelling” . Dr Holstein’s novel approach makes it possible to label messenger RNA (mRNA) highly selectively and independently of sequence in vitro and in cells, or to specifically influence the function of mRNA. In this work, Dr Holstein discovered a methyltransferase (Ecm1) with pronounced substrate promiscuity and developed novel S-adenosyl-L-methionine analogues, making mRNA accessible to post-synthetic modification and intracellular bioorthogonal reactions.

Jian Lei conducted groundbreaking research at the interface between biochemistry, structural biology and pharmaceutical chemistry with his publication on the subject: “Crystal structure of Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease in complex with a boronate inhibitor” . His work on elucidating the structures of viral proteases provides new insights into their structure and function. In particular, his research on elucidating the structure of the NS2B/NS3 protease from Zika virus provides detailed insight into the processing of the viral polyprotein and establishes an essential knowledge base for the structure-based development of active substances for the treatment of viral infections.