College of Arts & Sciences
Markus W. Germann
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Markus W. Germann Professor Associate Graduate Director Biophysical Chemistry M.S. (1983) : Technikum Winterthur Ingenieurschule Ph.D. (1989) : University of Calgary Postdoctoral Scientist (1989-1990) : University of Calgary Dr. Markus W. Germann Department of Chemistry Georgia State University P.O. Box 4098 Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4098
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Featured Scholar article from the Office of Vice President for Research.
The major focus of our research is the determination of structure, dynamics and function of biological macromolecules by high resolution NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations.
Research Interests
DNA damage: Effect on DNA structure and repair/recognition by repair enzymes.
Unusual DNA constituents: To study and control DNA stability, recognition and dynamics.
HIV- RNA binding Zinc fingers: Design, structure and combinatorial methods to generate small RREIIB RNA binding zinc fingers that inhibit rev binding and virus production.
NMR imaging and Metabonomics.
Methods and Techniques in use
DNA/RNA synthesis/purification and characterization
NMR spectroscopy for characterization and 3D-structure determination
Cloning to generate new mutants and protein expression systems, Phage Display
Protein production (in vivo and in vitro), purification
Div. Enzymatic assays, PAGE
Circular Dichroism, Fluorescence, UV spectroscopy, UV melting studies Surface plasmon resonance
Ab initio and molecular dynamics calculations
| Education | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | M.S. | Chemical Engineering Technikum Winterthur, Switzerland |
| 1989 | Ph.D. | Nucleic Acids Biochemistry University of Calgary, Canada |
| 1990 | Post Doc. | Physical Biochemistry University of Calgary, Canada |
| Professional Experience | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1975-1978 | Apprenticeship, Laborant B, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland | |
| 1978-1979 | Research Technician, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland | |
| 1979-1983 | Chemiker HTL, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland (B.S. Chemical Engineering) | |
| 1983-1989 | Graduate Student, The University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada | |
| 1989-1990 | Postdoctoral Fellow, laboratory of Dr. H. J. Vogel, The University of Calgary, Canada | |
| 1991-1993 | Application Specialist, Bruker-Spectrospin AG, Switzerland | |
| 1994-2001 | Assistant Professor, Thomas Jefferson University, Kimmel Cancer Institute, Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Philadelphia, PA | |
| 2001 | Associate Professor, (Kimmel Cancer Institute and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia USA | |
| 2001- | Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA | |
Representative Publications
Covarrubias, M., Bhattacharji, A., Harris, T., Kaplan, B. and Germann, M. W. "Alcohol and Anesthetic Action at the Gateof a Voltage-Dependent K+ Channel." (2005) ICS 1283 Mechanisms of Anesthesia Conference, MAC-2005. International Congress Series, Elsevier.
Vlassiouk, I., Krasnoslobodtsev, A, Smirnov, S. & Germann, M. "Direct" Detection and Separation of DNA Using Nanoporous Alumina Filters. (2004) Langmuir, 20 (23), 9913-9915.
Yang, H., Johnson, P. M., Ko, K-C., Kamio, M., Germann, M. W., Derby, C. D., & Tai, P. C. "Escapin, a stable and broadly antimicrobial FAD-containing L-amino acid oxidase from ink of the sea hare Aplysia californica, can be functionally expressed in bacteria", (2005) The Journal of Experimental Biology, 208, 3609-3622.
Aramini, J. M., Cleaver, S. H., Pon, R. T., Cunningham, R. P. & Germann: Solution Structure of a DNA Duplex Containing an α-Anomeric Adenosine: Insights into Substrate Recognition by Endonuclease IV. (2004), J. Mol. Biol. (2004), 338, 77-91.
Shahidullah, M., Harris, T., Germann, M. W. & Covarubias, M.: Molecular Features of an Alcohol Binding Site in a Neuronal Potassium Channel (2003), 42, 11243-11252.
Germann, M. W., Aramini, J. M., Kalisch, B. W & van de Sande , J. H.: Structure, dynamics and enzymatic properties of mixed α,β-oligonucleotides containing polarity reversals. Nucleosides and Nucleotides (2001), 20, 4-7.
Aramini, J. M., Mujeeb, A., Ulyanov, N. B. & Germann, M. W.: Conformational Dynamics in Mixed α,β- Oligonucleotides Containing Polarity Reversals: A Molecular Dynamics Study using Time-averaged Restraints. J. Biomol. NMR, (2000), 18, 287-303.
Verrecchio, A., Germann, M. W. Schick, B. P., Kung, B., Twardowski, T. and San Antonio, J. D.: Design of Peptides with High Affinities for Heparin and Endothelial Cell Proteoglycans, Journal of Biological Chemistry, (2000), 275, 7701-7707.
Aramini, J. M. & Germann, M. W. NMR solution structure of a DNA/RNA hybrid containing an alpha anomeric thymidine and polarity reversals. Biochemistry, (1999), 38, 15448-15458.
Germann, M. W., Kalisch, B. W. & van de Sande, J. H.: Structure of d(GT)nd(GA)nSequences: Formation of Parallel Stranded Duplex DNA. Biochemistry, (1998), 37, 12962-12970.
Aramini, J. M., Germann, M. W.: & Vogel, H. J. Soft-Pulsed Aluminum-27 QCT NMR Studies of Ovotransferrin. J. Mag. Res. (1997), 209, 111-114.
Satoh, T., Aramini, J. M., Li, S., Friedman, T., Germann, M. W., Korngold, R. & Huang, Z.: Biologically Active Cyclic Heptapeptide derived from the CC' Loop of human CD4 Domain 1. Journal of Biological Chemistry (1997), 272, 12175-12180.
Aramini, J. M., Kalisch, B. W., Pon, R.T., van de Sande, J.H. & Germann, M. W.: Structure of a DNA duplex that contains alpha anomeric nucleotides and 3'3' and 5'5' phosphodiester linkages: Coexistence of parallel and antiparallel DNA. Biochemistry (1996), 35, 9355-9365.
Shachar-Hill, Y., Pfeffer, P. E. & Germann, M. W.: In vivo study of plant metabolism using 13C and 15N labeled glucose and ammonia with heteronuclear two dimensional pulsed field gradient spectroscopy. Analytical Biochemistry (1996), 243, 110-118.
Germann, M. W., Zhou, N., van de Sande, J. H. & Vogel, H. J.: Parallel-stranded duplex DNA: a NMR perspective. Methods in Enzymology (1995), 261, 207-225.
Germann, M. W., Aramini, J. M. & Vogel, H. J.: A Quadrupolar Metal Ion NMR Study of Ovotransferrin at 17.6 Tesla. Journal of the American Chemical Society (1994), 116, 6971-6972.
Aramini, J. M., Germann, M. W. Vogel, & H. J.: Field Dependent Aluminium-27 NMR Studies of the Transferrins: An Approach to the Study of Metal Ion Binding Sites in larger Proteins. Journal of the American Chemical Society (1993), 115, 9750-9753.
Germann, M. W., Kalisch, B. W., Lundberg, P., Vogel, H. J. & van de Sande, J. H.: Perturbation of DNA hairpins containing the EcoRI recognition site by hairpin loops of varying sizes and composition: Physical (NMR & UV) and enzymatic (EcoRI) studies. Nucleic Acids Research (1990), 18, 1489-1498.
Germann, M. W., Vogel, H. J., Pon, R. T. & van de Sande, J. H.: Characterization of a Parallel Stranded DNA Hairpin. Biochemistry (1989), 28, 6220-6228.
van de Sande, J. H., Ramsing, N., Germann, M. W., Elhorst, W., Kalisch, B. W., Pon, R. T. & Jovin, T. M.: Parallel-Stranded Duplex DNA. Science (1988), 241, 551-557.