Max Crüsemann
Dr. Max Crüsemann
Affiliations
  • Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie
Research topics
  • compound discovery, natural products
The group is interested in the discovery and biosynthesis of natural products. Compounds isolated from various terrestrial and marine sources such as bacteria, fungi and plants harbor enormous structural diversity and often exhibit strong, e.g. antibiotic or cytotoxic biological activities. Thus, it is not surprising that more than half of all approved drugs in human use are or are derived from natural products. We use state-of-the art bioinformatics and -omics methodologies to improve and accelerate novel bioactive natural product discovery. We investigate biosynthetic pathways of natural products of interest, such as antibiotics and G protein inhibitors, in detail, in order to understand the complex underlying enzymology and to engineer these pathways for the production of improved or altered bioactive molecules.
Selected publications

Hermes C, Richarz R, Wirtz DA, Patt J, Hanke W, Kehraus S, Voß JH, Küppers J, Ohbayashi T, Namasivayam V, Alenfelder J, Inoue A, Mergaert P, Gütschow M, Müller CE, Kostenis E, König GM, Crüsemann M (2021) Thioesterase-mediated side chain transesterification generates potent Gq signaling inhibitor FR900359. Nat Commun 12:144.

Wirtz DA, Ludwig KC, Arts M, Marx CE, Krannich S, Barac P, Kehraus S, Josten M, Henrichfreise B, Müller A, König GM, Peoples AJ, Nitti A, Spoering AL, Ling LL, Lewis K, Crüsemann M*, Schneider T* (2021) Biosynthesis and mechanism of action of the cell wall targeting antibiotic hypeptin. Angew Chem Int Ed Mar 26. doi: 10.1002/anie.202102224.

Crüsemann M, Reher R, Schamari I, Brachmann AO, Ohbayashi T, Kuschak M, Malfacini D, Seidinger A, Pinto-Carbó M, Richarz R, Reuter T, Kehraus S, Hallab A, Attwood M, Schiöth HB, Mergaert P, Kikuchi Y, Schäberle TF, Kostenis E, Wenzel D, Müller CE, Piel J, Carlier A, Eberl L, König GM (2018) Heterologous Expression, Biosynthetic Studies, and Ecological Function of the Selective Gq-Signaling Inhibitor FR900359. Angew Chem Int Ed 57:836-840.

Crüsemann M, Kohlhaas C, Piel J (2013) Evolution-guided engineering of nonribosomal peptide synthetase adenylation domains Chem Sci 4:1041-1045.

Max Crüsemann
Dr. Max Crüsemann
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