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Prof. Dr. Matthias Geyer

Member, Steering-Committee Member

Institute of Structural Biology

University Bonn, Department of Structural Immunology, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, D-53127 Bonn

matthias.geyer@uni-bonn.de

+49 228 28751400

Website

The Geyer lab is interested in the regulation of transcription and the molecular mechanisms that govern immune receptor activation. We use a variety of techniques from molecular biology and biochemistry to structural biology to analyze interaction between proteins, RNA, lipids, and ligands. The transcription cycle is regulated by cyclin-dependent kinases that phosphorylate the RNA polymerase II. We analyze the transition from transcription initiation to productive elongation in eukaryotic cells. We study the molecular and structural mechanisms that determine the activity and regulation of transcription-controlling kinases, as well as their inhibition by small molecular compounds. We recently also focused on the analysis of receptor activation of NLRP3 and forma-tion of the NLRP3/ASC/caspase inflammasome. Besides NACHT-domain containing proteins, Toll-like receptors, RIG-I and the cGAS-STING pathway mediate the immune-recogni-tion of pathogens. We aim at identifying target sites in these immune regulators that allow for the specific interference with the immune system, e.g., by small molecular compounds.

Recent publications

  • Discovery of potent and selective inhibitors of human NLRP3 with a novel mechanism of action.

    The Journal of experimental medicine

    Authors: Kevin Wilhelmsen, Aditi Deshpande, Sarah Tronnes, Maitriyee Mahanta, Matthew Banicki, Mary Cochran, Samantha Cowdin, Kristen Fortney, George Hartman, Robert E Hughes, Rusty Montgomery, Claudia P Portillo, Paul Rubin, Taiz Salazar, Yan Wang, Shijun Yan, Barry A Morgan, Assem Duisembekova, Romane Riou, Michael Marleaux, Inga V Hochheiser, Hannes Buthmann, Dominic Ferber, Jane Torp, Wei Wang, Melanie Cranston, Chloe M McKee, Thea J Mawhinney, Emma C McKay, Fehime K Eroglu, Jasmin Kümmerle-Deschner, Alexander N R Weber, Bénédicte F Py, Matthias Geyer, Rebecca C Coll

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  • A CDK11-dependent RNA polymerase II pause-checkpoint precedes CDK9-mediated transition to transcriptional elongation.

    Molecular cell

    Authors: Jennifer R Devlin, Ben Martin, Nenad Bartonicek, Keziah Ting, Zheng Fan, Izabela Todorovski, Filip Bjelosevic, Sandra Verschoor, Annette Ciccone, Joseph A Trapani, Attila Horvath, Emily Tinsley, Peter Fraser, Andrea Newbold, Jarrod J Sandow, Andrea Muscat, Kaylene J Simpson, Matthias Geyer, Stephin J Vervoort, Ricky W Johnstone

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  • The expanding role of the NLRP3 inflammasome from periodic fevers to therapeutic targets.

    Nature immunology

    Authors: Alexander N R Weber, Róisín M McManus, Veit Hornung, Matthias Geyer, Jasmin B Kuemmerle-Deschner, Eicke Latz

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