Prof. Dr. phil. Manuel Koch

Institute for Dental Research and Oral Musculoskeletal Biology,
Center for Biochemistry
University of Cologne
Joseph-Stelzmann-Straße 52
50931 Cologne, Germany
+49 176 43 66 95 32
Manuel.Koch@uni-koeln.de

Projects:

Project leader

Z01

Scientific career

1995 Postdoctoral fellow (Prof. Dr. Matthias Chiquet), University of Bern, Switzerland

1996 – 1999 Postdoctoral training, Research Fellow Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA (Prof. R.E. Burgeson)

1999 – 2002 Assistant in Molecular Biology (Dermatology), Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA

2002 – 2004 Sofja-Kovalevskaja awardee, Independent group leader at the Center for Biochemistry, University of Cologne

2004 – 2009 Professor (C3), Department of Dermatology and Center for Biochemistry

2009 W3 Professor in tissue regeneration, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg (declined)

2009 – Director, Professor in Dental Research and Musculoskeletal Biology (W2), Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne

Prizes and honors

2002 Sofja-Kovalevskaja award, from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Germany Ministry for Education and Research

Selected publications

  1. Hamdorf M, Imhof T, Theobald SJ, Simonis A, Di Cristanziano V, Gieselmann L, Dewald F, Lehmann C., Augustin M, Klein F, Alcazar MAA, Rongisch R, Fabri M, Cursiefen C, Rybniker J, Koch* M, Bock* F. The unique ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to human dendritic cells and induces a cytokine storm. J. Mol. Cell Biol. 2023; Accepted. *Shared senior author
  2. Meier M, Gupta M, Akgül S, McDougall M., Imhof T, Nikodemus D, Reuten R, Moya A, To V, Ferens F, Heide F, Padilla-Meier GP, Kukura P, Huang W, Gerisch B, Mörgelin M, Poole K, Antebi* A, Koch* M, Stetefeld* J. The Dynamic Nature of Netrin-1, the Structural Basis for short-chain Glycosaminoglycan induced Filament Formation. Nat. Comm. 2023; Accepted. *Shared senior author
  3. Theobald SJ, Simonis A, Mudler JM, Gobel U, Acton R, Kohlhas V, Albert MC, Hellmann AM, Malin JJ, Winter S, Hallek M, Walczak H, Nguyen PH, Koch M, Rybniker J. Spleen tyrosine kinase mediates innate and adaptive immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. EMBO Mol Med 2022; 14: e15888.
  4. Reuten R, Zendehroud S, Nicolau M, Fleischhauer L, Laitala A, Kiderlen S, Nikodemus D, Wullkopf L, Nielsen SR, McNeilly S, Prein C, Rafaeva M, Schoof EM, Furtwangler B, Porse BT, Kim H, Won KJ, Sudhop S, Zornhagen KW, Suhr F, Maniati E, Pearce OMT, Koch M, Oddershede LB, Van Agtmael T, Madsen CD, Mayorca-Guiliani AE, Bloch W, Netz RR, Clausen-Schaumann H, Erler JT. Basement membrane stiffness determines metastases formation. Nat. Mater. 2021; 20: 892–903.
  5. Imhof T, Balic A, Heilig J, Chiquet-Ehrismann R, Chiquet M, Niehoff A, Brachvogel B, Thesleff I, Koch M. Pivotal Role of Tenascin-W (-N) in Postnatal Incisor Growth and Periodontal Ligament Remodeling. Front. Immunol. 2020; 11: 608223.
  6. Kreer C, Zehner M, Weber T, Ercanoglu MS, Gieselmann L, Rohde C, Halwe S, Korenkov M, Schommers P, Vanshylla K, Di Cristanziano V, Janicki H, Brinker R, Ashurov A, Krahling V, Kupke A, Cohen-Dvashi H, Koch M, Eckert JM, Lederer S, Pfeifer N, Wolf T, Vehreschild M, Wendtner C, Diskin R, Gruell H, Becker S, Klein F. Longitudinal Isolation of Potent Near-Germline SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibodies from COVID-19 Patients. Cell 2020; 182: 843-54.
  7. Huyghe A, Furlan G, Ozmadenci D, Galonska C, Charlton J, Gaume X, Combemorel N, Riemenschneider C, Allegre N, Zhang J, Wajda P, Rama N, Vieugue P, Durand I, Brevet M, Gadot N, Imhof T, Merrill BJ, Koch M, Mehlen P, Chazaud C, Meissner A, Lavial F. Netrin-1 promotes naive pluripotency through Neo1 and Unc5b co-regulation of Wnt and MAPK signalling. Nat. Cell Biol. 2020; 22: 389-400.
  8. Grandin M, Meier M, Delcros JG, Nikodemus D, Reuten R, Patel TR, Goldschneider D, Orriss G, Krahn N, Boussouar A, Abes R, Dean Y, Neves D, Bernet A, Depil S, Schneiders F, Poole K, Dante R, Koch* M, Mehlen* P, Stetefeld* J. Structural Decoding of the Netrin-1/UNC5 Interaction and its Therapeutical Implications in Cancers. Cancer Cell 2016; 29: 173-85. *Shared senior author
  9. Reuten R, Patel TR, McDougall M, Rama N, Nikodemus D, Gibert B, Delcros JG, Prein C, Meier M, Metzger S, Zhou Z, Kaltenberg J, McKee KK, Bald T, Tuting T, Zigrino P, Djonov V, Bloch W, Clausen-Schaumann H, Poschl E, Yurchenco PD, Ehrbar M, Mehlen* P, Stetefeld* J, Koch* M. Structural decoding of netrin-4 reveals a regulatory function towards mature basement membranes. Nat. Comm. 2016; 7: 13515. *Shared senior author.
  10. Reuten R, Nikodemus D, Oliveira MB, Patel TR, Brachvogel B, Breloy I, Stetefeld J, Koch M. Maltose-Binding Protein (MBP), a Secretion-Enhancing Tag for Mammalian Protein Expression Systems. Plos One 2016; 11: e0152386.

Patents (issued, licensed)

  1. Hagmann H, Benzing T, Schermer B, Koch M, Matin M. “Vegf dimer molecules and columns comprising a vegf dimer molecule as well as uses, production methods and methods involving the same”. U.S. Patent Application No. 17/906,730, filed September 19, 2022; PCT International Patent Application No.: PCT/EP2021/057019, filed March 18, 2021; European Patent Application No. 20164619.7, filed March 20, 2020.