Katharina Ribbeck

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Katharina Ribbeck
Born
Darmstadt, Germany
Alma materUniversity of Heidelberg, Germany
Known forStudies on the role of mucus in human health, mucus’ influence on the behavior of harmful pathogens, and the molecular mechanism by which the nuclear pore mediates selective transport
Scientific career
FieldsBiological Engineering
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Thesis Mechanistic analysis of transport through the nuclear pore complex  (2001)
Academic advisorsDirk Görlich, Tim Mitchison, Iain Mattaj, Andrew Murray, Jan Ellenberg
Videos and articles
image icon TED-Ed: How mucus keeps us healthy
image icon Science Friday: It's snot what you think
image icon STAT News: Why mucus is the ‘unsung hero’ of the human body
image icon WIRED: How the Sugars in Spit Tame the Body’s Unruly Fungi
image icon MIT Technology Review: The science of slime
image icon MIT Spectrum: A slippery viral defense

Katharina Ribbeck is a German-American biologist. She is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1] She is known as one of the first researchers to study how mucus impacts microbial behavior.[2][3] Ribbeck investigates both the function of mucus as a barrier to pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses [4][5][6] and how mucus can be leveraged for therapeutic purposes.[1] She has also studied changes that cervical mucus undergoes before birth, which may lead to a novel diagnostic for the risk of preterm birth.[7]

Education[edit]

Ribbeck received her B.S. in biology[1][8] from the University of Heidelberg in 1998. During her senior year, she attended the University of California, San Diego, to study neurobiology for her diploma thesis.[2] She earned her Ph.D. in biology, also from the University of Heidelberg, in 2001.[9]

Career[edit]

Upon completing her Ph.D., Ribbeck continued her research as a postdoctoral scientist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and then Harvard Medical School. After her postdoctoral research, she moved to Harvard University as an independent Bauer Fellow in 2007, where she began to investigate how particles and bacteria move through mucus barriers.[10]

In 2010, Ribbeck moved to the Department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor.[1] She attained tenure as a full professor in 2017.[11]

Research on nuclear pore complexes[edit]

During her Ph.D. work, Ribbeck investigated the selective transport of molecules through the nuclear pore complex,[12][13] which is partly mediated by a hydrogel barrier. With her Ph.D. advisor, Dirk Görlich, Ribbeck developed a selective phase model for molecular transport through the nuclear pore barrier.[14][15] Görlich and Ribbeck also showed that molecular transport through nuclear pore complexes may be facilitated by hydrophobic interactions.[15]

Research on mitotic spindles[edit]

As a postdoctoral researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Ribbeck studied proteins involved in the organization of the mitotic spindle, a dynamic bundle consisting of proteins and molecules that aids in chromosome segregation during cell division.[16] Her research contributed to the discovery of a novel protein (NuSAP) that plays a crucial role in mitotic spindle organization.[17]

Research on mucus[edit]

In 2007, Ribbeck's research returned to hydrogels, with a specific focus on mucus, i.e., a large natural hydrogel that is closely related to the polymer network she and Görlich had proposed to exist within nuclear pore complexes.[15][18][19] Her work has elucidated the role of mucins, a primary component of mucus, in human health.[2] Ribbeck is known for her pioneering work in this field, which has shown that mucus plays an active role in protecting against harmful pathogens,[20][21] including fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Specifically, her research has shown that mucins and their associated sugar chains (glycans) can "tame" pathogens by inhibiting virulence traits such as biofilm formation, cell adhesion, and toxin secretion.[22][23][24][25]

She has shown that mucins prevent bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus mutans, the bacteria that cause tooth decay, from forming biofilms, which make them hard to eradicate.[26][27] Ribbeck demonstrated that mucin glycans can reduce the virulence of pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa,[22][23][28] a bacterium that can cause illness in individuals with cystic fibrosis or compromised immune systems, by inhibiting the cell-cell communication, toxin secretion, and biofilm formation ability of these bacteria.

Ribbeck's work has also demonstrated the role of mucus in protecting against fungal infections. Her studies have shown that mucins and specific mucin glycans induce a morphological change, accompanied by a reduction in biofilm formation and cell adhesion, in Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen that causes a variety of diseases in humans.[24][29] Her work has also shown that mucins found in multiple types of mucus, including human spit, can prevent fungal pathogens from causing disease in healthy humans.[24][27][30]

Ribbeck identified a correlation between the properties of mucus in the cervix in pregnant women and the likelihood of preterm birth[31] and has developed probes to test mucus permeability as a step towards diagnosing the risk for premature birth.[32]

Ribbeck has extensively investigated the biophysical properties of mucus and other hydrogels and the mechanisms by which some particles and molecules, including viruses such as SARS-CoV-2,[33] selectively pass through the barrier.[18][34][35][36] Ribbeck has also studied hydrogels produced by pathogens and has found that the extracellular matrix formed by the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa protects the bacterium against antibiotics.[37]

Ribbeck has investigated approaches for engineering mucus, with the aim of potentially influencing the population of bacteria in the human body.[38][39] In collaboration with others, Ribbeck demonstrated that synthetic mucins can block toxins produced by Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera.[25][40] She has also shown that purified foreign mucins can prevent viruses from infecting cells and suggested that they could be used to supplement the anti-viral activity of native mucins.[41]

Awards and achievements[edit]

Ribbeck is passionate about educating others on the importance of mucus in human health.[8] Together with her lab, she gives presentation about her work on mucus at the MIT Museum and the Boston Museum of Science.[8]

"The intention here is to really introduce a field to the generations to come, so they grow up understanding that mucus is not a waste product. It's an integral part of our physiology and a really important piece of our health. If we understand it, it can really give us a lot of information that will help us stay healthy and possibly treat diseases." (Ribbeck, 2018)[8]

In 2015, Ribbeck and her team produced a TED-Ed lesson to provide basic education about mucus and its role in human health.[42] Ribbeck has been interviewed on NPR[43] and STAT news[3] and has been featured in articles in WIRED[30] and MIT News.[2][20][28]

  • 2003: Ruprecht-Karls Prize Heidelberg University[44]
  • 2007: Award for Genome-Related Research (Merck)[45]
  • 2013: John Kendrew Award (EMBL).[46]
  • 2014: Popular Science, "Brilliant 10"[47]
  • 2015: NSF CAREER award[48]
  • 2015: Junior Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching (MIT)[49]
  • 2016: Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award (MIT)[50]
  • 2018: Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant (MIT), given for "work that is unorthodox, and potentially world-changing".[51]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Katharina Ribbeck, PhD | MIT Department of Biological Engineering". be.mit.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  2. ^ a b c d "The science of slime". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  3. ^ a b "WATCH: Why mucus is the 'unsung hero' of the human body". STAT. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  4. ^ "Mucus Is Beneficial In The Fight Against Bacteria". Medical News Today. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  5. ^ Walter, Kenny (2017-04-27). "Synthetic Mucus Helps Fight Antibiotic Resistance". Research & Development. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  6. ^ Trafton, Anne. "The science of slime". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. ^ "Test of cervical mucus may reveal pregnant women's risk of going into labor too early". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  8. ^ a b c d "Exploring the many roles of mucus". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  9. ^ "Universität Heidelberg". www.uni-heidelberg.de. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  10. ^ Lieleg, Oliver; Vladescu, Ioana; Ribbeck, Katharina (2010-05-19). "Characterization of particle translocation through mucin hydrogels". Biophysical Journal. 98 (9): 1782–1789. Bibcode:2010BpJ....98.1782L. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2010.01.012. ISSN 1542-0086. PMC 2862156. PMID 20441741.
  11. ^ "The tenured engineers of 2017". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  12. ^ Ribbeck, K.; Kutay, U.; Paraskeva, E.; Görlich, D. (1999-01-14). "The translocation of transportin-cargo complexes through nuclear pores is independent of both Ran and energy". Current Biology. 9 (1): 47–50. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80046-3. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-002D-1CB6-0. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 9889126. S2CID 15414916.
  13. ^ Ribbeck, Katharina; Görlich, Dirk (2002-06-03). "The permeability barrier of nuclear pore complexes appears to operate via hydrophobic exclusion". The EMBO Journal. 21 (11): 2664–2671. doi:10.1093/emboj/21.11.2664. ISSN 0261-4189. PMC 126029. PMID 12032079.
  14. ^ Marte, Barbara (June 2001). "Passage through the nuclear pore". Nature Cell Biology. 3 (6): E135. doi:10.1038/35078596. ISSN 1476-4679. PMID 11389450. S2CID 34734320.
  15. ^ a b c Ribbeck, Katharina; Görlich, Dirk (2001-03-15). "Kinetic analysis of translocation through nuclear pore complexes". The EMBO Journal. 20 (6): 1320–1330. doi:10.1093/emboj/20.6.1320. ISSN 0261-4189. PMC 145537. PMID 11250898.
  16. ^ Ribbeck, Katharina; Groen, Aaron C.; Santarella, Rachel; Bohnsack, Markus T.; Raemaekers, Tim; Köcher, Thomas; Gentzel, Marc; Görlich, Dirk; Wilm, Matthias; Carmeliet, Geert; Mitchison, Timothy J.; Ellenberg, Jan; Hoenger, Andreas; Mattaj, Iain W. (2006-06-01). "NuSAP, a Mitotic RanGTP Target That Stabilizes and Cross-links Microtubules". Molecular Biology of the Cell. 17 (6): 2646–2660. doi:10.1091/mbc.e05-12-1178. ISSN 1059-1524. PMC 1474800. PMID 16571672.
  17. ^ Raemaekers, Tim; Ribbeck, Katharina; Beaudouin, Joël; Annaert, Wim; Van Camp, Mark; Stockmans, Ingrid; Smets, Nico; Bouillon, Roger; Ellenberg, Jan; Carmeliet, Geert (September 8, 2003). "NuSAP, a novel microtubule-associated protein involved in mitotic spindle organization". Journal of Cell Biology. 162 (6): 1017–1029. doi:10.1083/jcb.200302129. PMC 2172854. PMID 12963707. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  18. ^ a b Li, Leon D.; Crouzier, Thomas; Sarkar, Aniruddh; Dunphy, Laura; Han, Jongyoon; Ribbeck, Katharina (2013-09-17). "Spatial configuration and composition of charge modulates transport into a mucin hydrogel barrier". Biophysical Journal. 105 (6): 1357–1365. Bibcode:2013BpJ...105.1357L. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2013.07.050. ISSN 1542-0086. PMC 3785869. PMID 24047986.
  19. ^ Samad, Tahoura; Witten, Jacob; Grodzinsky, Alan J.; Ribbeck, Katharina (2022-01-18). "Spatial configuration of charge and hydrophobicity tune particle transport through mucus". Biophysical Journal. 121 (2): 277–287. Bibcode:2022BpJ...121..277S. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2021.12.018. ISSN 1542-0086. PMC 8790233. PMID 34951982.
  20. ^ a b "Molecules found in mucus can thwart fungal infection". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  21. ^ "Not as Gross as It Sounds: Predicting How Bacteria in Mucus Affect Human Health". UVA Today. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  22. ^ a b Wheeler, Kelsey M.; Cárcamo-Oyarce, Gerardo; Turner, Bradley S.; Dellos-Nolan, Sheri; Co, Julia Y.; Lehoux, Sylvain; Cummings, Richard D.; Wozniak, Daniel J.; Ribbeck, Katharina (December 2019). "Mucin glycans attenuate the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in infection". Nature Microbiology. 4 (12): 2146–2154. doi:10.1038/s41564-019-0581-8. ISSN 2058-5276. PMC 7157942. PMID 31611643.
  23. ^ a b Wang, Benjamin X.; Wheeler, Kelsey M.; Cady, Kyle C.; Lehoux, Sylvain; Cummings, Richard D.; Laub, Michael T.; Ribbeck, Katharina (2021-01-11). "Mucin Glycans Signal through the Sensor Kinase RetS to Inhibit Virulence-Associated Traits in Pseudomonas aeruginosa". Current Biology. 31 (1): 90–102.e7. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.088. ISSN 0960-9822. PMC 8759707. PMID 33125866.
  24. ^ a b c Takagi, Julie; Aoki, Kazuhiro; Turner, Bradley S.; Lamont, Sabrina; Lehoux, Sylvain; Kavanaugh, Nicole; Gulati, Megha; Valle Arevalo, Ashley; Lawrence, Travis J.; Kim, Colin Y.; Bakshi, Bhavya; Ishihara, Mayumi; Nobile, Clarissa J.; Cummings, Richard D.; Wozniak, Daniel J. (July 2022). "Mucin O-glycans are natural inhibitors of Candida albicans pathogenicity". Nature Chemical Biology. 18 (7): 762–773. doi:10.1038/s41589-022-01035-1. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 7613833. PMID 35668191.
  25. ^ a b "Synthetic Mucus Can Mimic the Real Thing". The MIT Campaign for a Better World. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  26. ^ Werlang, Caroline A.; Chen, Wesley G.; Aoki, Kazuhiro; Wheeler, Kelsey M.; Tymm, Carly; Mileti, Cassidy J.; Burgos, Ana C.; Kim, Kris; Tiemeyer, Michael; Ribbeck, Katharina (May 2021). "Mucin O-glycans suppress quorum-sensing pathways and genetic transformation in Streptococcus mutans". Nature Microbiology. 6 (5): 574–583. doi:10.1038/s41564-021-00876-1. ISSN 2058-5276. PMC 8811953. PMID 33737747.
  27. ^ a b Kwon, Diana. "Mucus: The Body's Unsung Hero". Scientific American. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  28. ^ a b "Study reveals how mucus tames microbes". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  29. ^ Kavanaugh, Nicole L.; Zhang, Angela Q.; Nobile, Clarissa J.; Johnson, Alexander D.; Ribbeck, Katharina (2014-11-11). "Mucins suppress virulence traits of Candida albicans". mBio. 5 (6): e01911. doi:10.1128/mBio.01911-14. ISSN 2150-7511. PMC 4235211. PMID 25389175.
  30. ^ a b Chen, Maggie. "How the Sugars In Spit Tame the Body's Unruly Fungi". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  31. ^ Critchfield, Agatha S.; Yao, Grace; Jaishankar, Aditya; Friedlander, Ronn S.; Lieleg, Oliver; Doyle, Patrick S.; McKinley, Gareth; House, Michael; Ribbeck, Katharina (2013). "Cervical mucus properties stratify risk for preterm birth". PLOS ONE. 8 (8): e69528. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...869528C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069528. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3731331. PMID 23936335.
  32. ^ Smith-Dupont, K. B.; Wagner, C. E.; Witten, J.; Conroy, K.; Rudoltz, H.; Pagidas, K.; Snegovskikh, V.; House, M.; Ribbeck, K. (2017-09-04). "Probing the potential of mucus permeability to signify preterm birth risk". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 10302. Bibcode:2017NatSR...710302S. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08057-z. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5583328. PMID 28871085.
  33. ^ "A Slippery Viral Defense". MIT Spectrum. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  34. ^ Witten, Jacob; Ribbeck, Katharina (2017-06-22). "The particle in the spider's web: transport through biological hydrogels". Nanoscale. 9 (24): 8080–8095. doi:10.1039/c6nr09736g. ISSN 2040-3372. PMC 5841163. PMID 28580973.
  35. ^ Chen, Wesley G.; Witten, Jacob; Grindy, Scott C.; Holten-Andersen, Niels; Ribbeck, Katharina (2017-11-07). "Charge Influences Substrate Recognition and Self-Assembly of Hydrophobic FG Sequences". Biophysical Journal. 113 (9): 2088–2099. Bibcode:2017BpJ...113.2088C. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2017.08.058. ISSN 1542-0086. PMC 5685782. PMID 29117531.
  36. ^ Wagner, C. E.; Wheeler, K. M.; Ribbeck, K. (2018). "Mucins and Their Role in Shaping the Functions of Mucus Barriers". Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 34: 189–215. doi:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-100617-062818. ISSN 1530-8995. PMID 30296390. S2CID 52941033.
  37. ^ Billings, Nicole; Millan, MariaRamirez; Caldara, Marina; Rusconi, Roberto; Tarasova, Yekaterina; Stocker, Roman; Ribbeck, Katharina (2013). "The extracellular matrix Component Psl provides fast-acting antibiotic defense in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms". PLOS Pathogens. 9 (8): e1003526. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003526. ISSN 1553-7374. PMC 3738486. PMID 23950711.
  38. ^ Werlang, Caroline; Cárcarmo-Oyarce, Gerardo; Ribbeck, Katharina (February 2019). "Engineering mucus to study and influence the microbiome". Nature Reviews Materials. 4 (2): 134–145. Bibcode:2019NatRM...4..134W. doi:10.1038/s41578-018-0079-7. ISSN 2058-8437. S2CID 92604550.
  39. ^ Wagner, C.E.; Wheeler, K.M.; Ribbeck, K. (2018-10-06). "Mucins and Their Role in Shaping the Functions of Mucus Barriers". Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 34 (1): 189–215. doi:10.1146/annurev-cellbio-100617-062818. ISSN 1081-0706. PMID 30296390. S2CID 52941033.
  40. ^ Kruger, Austin G.; Brucks, Spencer D.; Yan, Tao; Cárcarmo-Oyarce, Gerardo; Wei, Yuan; Wen, Deborah H.; Carvalho, Dayanne R.; Hore, Michael J. A.; Ribbeck, Katharina; Schrock, Richard R.; Kiessling, Laura L. (2021-04-28). "Stereochemical Control Yields Mucin Mimetic Polymers". ACS Central Science. 7 (4): 624–630. doi:10.1021/acscentsci.0c01569. ISSN 2374-7943. PMC 8155468. PMID 34056092.
  41. ^ Lieleg, Oliver; Lieleg, Corinna; Bloom, Jesse; Buck, Christopher B.; Ribbeck, Katharina (2012-06-11). "Mucin biopolymers as broad-spectrum antiviral agents". Biomacromolecules. 13 (6): 1724–1732. doi:10.1021/bm3001292. ISSN 1526-4602. PMC 3597216. PMID 22475261.
  42. ^ How mucus keeps us healthy - Katharina Ribbeck, retrieved 2022-10-06
  43. ^ "Mucus: It's Snot What You Think". Science Friday. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  44. ^ "Aus der Stiftung Universität Heidelberg - Universität Heidelberg". www.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  45. ^ "Merck Presents 2007 Awards for Genome-Related Research". Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  46. ^ "Alumni Awards - The John Kendrew Award - EMBL". www.embl.de. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  47. ^ "The Brilliant Ten of 2014". Popular Science. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  48. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1454673 - Career: Selective Transport in Biological Hydrogels – From Design Principles to Mechanisms". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  49. ^ "MIT School of Engineering | » Teaching Awards". Mit Engineering. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  50. ^ "Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award". MIT Institutional Research. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  51. ^ "Bose grants for 2018 fund research at the frontier of discovery". MIT News. Retrieved 2019-02-13.

External links[edit]

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