Osnat Herzberg

Professor

Herzberg Group

Contact

Email: osnat@umd.edu

Call: (240) 314-6245

Education

  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, 1982
  • M.S., Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, 1976
  • B.S., Chemistry, Technion, Israel, 1971

Profile

Dr. Osnat Herzberg is a structural biologist interested in the relationship between the function and structure of proteins and how protein-ligand interactions can guide drug discovery. The Herzberg lab uses X-ray crystallography and other biophysical, biochemical, and cellular approaches to better understand various experimental systems.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Current projects in the Herzberg lab include studies of genetic factors that contribute to inflammatory bowel diseases; understanding the structure and function of myovirus phage CBA120 proteins, a bacteriophage that kills pathogenic E. coli; and, drug discovery for combating the parasitic diseases giardiasis and amebiasis. 

From crystals to electron density map to structure.
A tailspike protein structure is shown at the bottom.
Structural changes in the Gasdermin B polymorphism loop. The polymorphism of IBS associated protein leads to a more rigid structure (right) than that present in the healthy population (left).

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are human complex trait diseases caused by multiple genetic variants and environmental factors. The Herzberg lab is working to identify genetic variants known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with these diseases. They hope to determine how these variants alter proteins that contribute to disease. This is a collaborative project involving Dr. John Moult’s group. Dr. Moult’s group is identifying candidate disease variants by computational methods and the Herzberg group is carrying out experimental studies to validate these findings. One particular protein, called gasdermin B, has variants that have been implicated in IBD. Studies by the Herzberg lab revealed that protein changes associated with different SNPs alter the flexibility of a protein loop region and these changes have the potential to alter protein-protein interactions. Dr. Herzberg’s lab also discovered that gasdermin B can bind to lipid molecules that are critical to maintaining the integrity of the gut wall. It remains to be determined whether and how the gasdermin B variant found in IBD patients affects the lipid composition of the gut wall. 

The parasites Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica cause severe intestinal diseases and are major health hazards in undeveloped and developing countries. Moreover, disease outbreaks in the developed world are associated with drug resistance, which is rapidly spreading, and many patients do not tolerate these standard-of-care drugs. The Herzberg lab is developing less toxic drugs that are not prone to drug resistance. The Herzberg group is optimizing the properties of a drug called fumagillin, which is used in the European Union to treat immune compromised patients suffering from the parasitic infection microsporidiosis, in order to develop new and better antigiardiasis and antiamebiasis therapeutics. Compound optimization is facilitated by the unique capabilities of the group that integrate all aspects of preclinical studies, including medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cellular biology, and animal studies.

Image of Giardia lamblia trophozoites highlighting in fluorescent green one of the ATP producing enzymes studied by the group.

  

Publications
2024
Comparing apples to manzanas and oranges to naranjas: A new measure of English-Spanish vocabulary for dual language learners.
2023
A unique borrelial protein facilitates microbial immune evasion.
More than just pattern recognition: Prediction of uncommon protein structure features by AI methods.
Understanding the Molecular Basis for Homodimer Formation of the Pneumococcal Endolysin Cpl-1.
2022
Structure of Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteriophage CBA120 tailspike protein 4 baseplate anchor and tailspike assembly domains (TSP4-N).
Cryo-EM structure of the ancient eukaryotic ribosome from the human parasite Giardia lamblia.
2021
Computational models in the service of X-ray and cryo-electron microscopy structure determination.
2020
Structure and function of bacteriophage CBA120 ORF211 (TSP2), the determinant of phage specificity towards E. coli O157:H7.
Discovery and Preclinical Development of Antigiardiasis Fumagillol Derivatives.
2019
Structure and tailspike glycosidase machinery of ORF212 from E. coli O157:H7 phage CBA120 (TSP3).
Intracellular Delivery of an Antibody Targeting Gasdermin-B Reduces HER2 Breast Cancer Aggressiveness.
2017
Target highlights from the first post-PSI CASP experiment (CASP12, May-August 2016).
Reply to HU et al.: On the interpretation of gasdermin-B expression quantitative trait loci data.
A protein-protein interaction dictates Borrelial infectivity.
Gene polymorphism linked to increased asthma and IBD risk alters gasdermin-B structure, a sulfatide and phosphoinositide binding protein.
2014
Discovery of novel antigiardiasis drug candidates.
Structural basis for the binding specificity of human Recepteur d'Origine Nantais (RON) receptor tyrosine kinase to macrophage-stimulating protein.
Crystal structure of ORF210 from E. coli O157:H1 phage CBA120 (TSP1), a putative tailspike protein.
Structural basis for inactivation of Giardia lamblia carbamate kinase by disulfiram.
2013
Crystal structures of carbamate kinase from Giardia lamblia bound with citric acid and AMP-PNP.