Uwe B. Sleytr

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Uwe Bernd Sleytr (born July 15, 1942 in Vienna ) is a retired university professor for microbiology and former head of the department for nanobiotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna . He is a real member of the mathematical and natural science class of the Austrian Academy of Sciences .

Life

Uwe B. Sleytr Portrait.jpg

Sleytr studied food and biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna . After his doctorate as Dr. nat. techn. he spent post-doctoral stays at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge (1972–1975) with a fellowship from the Medical Research Council. 1973 followed the habilitation for the subject "General Microbiology" and stays (1977-1978) as Visiting Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia .

After appointments at home ( full professor of microbiology at the University of Vienna ) and abroad (head of the Institute for Chemistry at the GKSS Research Center Geesthacht in Schleswig-Holstein as well as a C4 professorship at the Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry at the University of Hamburg ), the appointment ( ad personam sui generis) to the board of the Department for NanoBiotechnology (formerly Center for Ultrastructure Research and Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Molecular Nanotechnology ) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

Uwe Sleytr was a co-founder of the NanoBiotech companies Nanosearch and Nano-S. Since October 2010 he has been Professor emeritus at the Department of NanoBiotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

Uwe Sleytr has been married to Henriette Will since 1968, with whom he has a daughter. He was a freestyle windsurfer and still practices swimming as a fitness sport.

Research and Teaching

Sleytr's research areas include nanobiotechnology and molecular nanotechnology , microbiology , molecular biology , synthetic biology , biomimetics , membrane technology , ultrastructural research , the development of modular molecular systems, investigations to clarify the structure, chemistry , morphogenesis , function and application potential of crystalline bacterial cell wall layers ( S-layers ). In addition, Sleytr deals with the connection and interaction between science and art.

Cryopreparation Techniques for Transmission Electron Microscopy

Already during his dissertation he was concerned with the improvement of electron microscopic preparation techniques for biological specimens with special consideration of the freeze etching technique (freeze fracture technique). Together with Walter Umrath from the Leybold-Heraeus company, he developed a freeze-etching system with which contamination-free, high-resolution heavy metal carbon replicas of samples for transmission electron microscopic examinations could be produced in a high vacuum . This method allowed for the first time the analysis of structures complementary fracture surfaces at temperatures up to 4  K were produced. With the help of these procedures, it was possible to demonstrate that biomembranes break along the central plane of the lipid bilayer. This finding supported the fluid mosaic model postulated for biomembranes . In addition, it was possible to prove that in the course of freeze fracture of biological and synthetic polymers, even at 4 K, plastic deformations occur and can thus lead to the formation of preparation artifacts.

  • UB Sleytr, AW Robards. Plastic deformation during freeze-cleavage: a review. J. Microsc. 110 (1977) 1-25.
  • UB Sleytr, AW Robards. Freeze fracturing: a review of methods and results. J. Microsc. 111 (1977) 77-100.
  • AWRobards and UB Sleytr. 1985. Low temperature methods in electron microscopy, 550 pages. In: AM Glauert (ed.) Practical Methods in Electron Microscopy. Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York.

S layers

With the help of the freeze-etching technique, Sleytr was able to prove in 1966 that thermophilic bacteria develop crystalline structures on their cell wall surface . For these layers, which consist of monomolecular protein lattices , he introduced the term " S-Layer " ("S" for "surface"). Since the classic test organisms, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis , have no S-layers, the relevance of this observation was initially not reflected in the scientific community. With his work, however, Sleytr made a significant contribution to the fact that it is now recognized that most bacteria and almost all archaea form S-layers as cell surface structures. In relation to prokaryotic biomass , S-layers are among the most common naturally occurring biopolymers .

During his postdoc time in Cambridge , Sleytr and Karin Thorne succeeded in demonstrating that S-layers can also consist of glycoproteins . This also provided the first evidence for the glycosylation of an exoprotein in bacteria. Sleytr later established a research focus on S-layer glycobiology at the Department of Nanobiotechnology in Vienna. His investigations into the dynamic self-organization of S-layers on growing and dividing cells as well as the assembly of isolated S-layer monomers in vitro have shown that S-layers represent the simplest isoporous protein membranes that have been developed in the course of evolution . These results were also the basis for the production of large-area S-layer ultrafiltration membranes with strictly defined separation limits.

Beginning in 1985 Sleytr dealt with basic research and the nanobiotechnological use of S-layers. The main areas of application are derived from the fact that S-layer proteins were successfully fused with other functional proteins (e.g. ligands , antigens , antibodies , enzymes , peptides ) and put on solid supports (e.g. metals , semiconductors , Graphene, polymers ) and lipid membranes including liposomes and emulsomes in the form of regular lattices. Due to their unique repetitive physicochemical properties, S-layers could be used in combination with other biomolecules (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates , nucleic acids etc.) and nanoparticles as patterning elements and basic building blocks for the production of sometimes very complex supramolecular structures including functional biomembranes . This also opened up a wide range of applications for S-layers in synthetic biology, biomimetics and nanotechnology.

The basic principles of the structure, chemistry, genetics and function of S-layers as well as the various areas of application are summarized in the following reviews:

  • UB Sleytr, B. Schuster, E.-M. Egelseer, D. Pum. S-layers: principles and applications. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 38 (2014) pp. 823-64.
  • D. Pum, UB Sleytr. Assembly of S-layer protein. Nanotechnology 25 (2014) 312001 (15pp).
  • B. Schuster, UB Sleytr. Biomimetic interfaces comprised of S-layer proteins, lipid membranes and membrane proteins. JR Soc. Interface 11 (2014) pp. 3296-3304.
  • N. Ilk, EM Egelseer, UB Sleytr. S-layer fusion proteins - construction principles and applications. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 22 (6) (2011) pp. 824-831.

Artistic activities

An essential part of Uwe Sleytr's artistic work relates to the visualization of the potential of synthetic biology in relation to evolutionary events, in particular the further development of humans. While fossil finds and the ever more precise molecular biological data allow a reliable reconstruction of the path of evolution to the forms of life that exist today, including humans in their current form, this information does not even allow a reliable prediction of the further development of life. Sleytr's artistic work primarily concerns the question: "What does it mean that we are methodically on the threshold of abandoning the previous conditions and basic principles of evolutionary events?" The fact is that man can intervene in evolutionary processes with the help of synthetic biology. The human being is thus also the first living being that has acquired the ability to manipulate its own genetic material and to influence its own evolutionary events through genome editing and “self-enhancement” . Synthetic biology points in the direction of new territory that was previously only thought of as utopia. It also derives from this that the human being in his present manifestation very consciously recognizes himself as a time-limited section in the ongoing evolutionary process. Sleytr shows that precisely these topics and questions can be dealt with through an artistic expression. His art illustrates an extrapolation into the unknown and the unimaginable. For him, the basic question arises: "Can we at all seriously consider or even plan a next evolutionary stage derived from us on the level of the human horizon of knowledge with all the information and data that we have and will still produce?"

To visualize the unimaginable future of a self-induced evolutionary event and a posthuman future in which man decouples the development of life from his previous evolutionary rules, he uses mask-like sculptures and products derived from them. Sleytr's sculptures have a strongly suggestive effect and thus the potential to address deep archaic levels of our consciousness. They are particularly suitable to stimulate the imagination in imparting knowledge about the potential of synthetic biology.

Publications and Patents

Sleytr is the author or co-author of approximately 420 scientific papers and numerous international patents in the fields of biotechnology, membrane engineering, vaccine development, molecular nanotechnology and genetics of prokaryotic exoproteins.

  • Curiosity and Passion for Science and Art “S-Layer Proteins of Bacteria and Archaea” , 488 pages, Series in Structural Biology Vol 7, World Scientific, 2016. ISBN 9813141816 .
  • Together with P. Messner, D. Pum and M. Sára (eds.): Crystalline Bacterial Cell Surface Proteins . In: Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit. Academic Press, RG Landes Company, Austin, USA, 1996.
  • Together with P. Messner, D. Pum and M. Sára (eds.): Immobilized Macromolecules: Application Potentials , 212 pages. In: Springer Series in Applied Biology. Springer-Verlag, London, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Barcelona, ​​Budapest, 1993
  • Together with P. Messner, D. Pum and M. Sára (eds.): Crystalline Bacterial Cell Surface Layers , 193 pages. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, 1988.
  • Together with AW Robards: Low temperature methods in electron microscopy , 550 pages. In: AM Glauert (ed) Practical Methods in Electron Microscopy. Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, 1985.

Awards and memberships (selection)

other activities

  • Life Member of Clare Hall College , Cambridge, UK, since 1982
  • Member of the DECHEMA Technical Committee for Chemical Reaction Engineering (“Membrane Technology” working committee), 1987–1993
  • Senator of the Food and Biotechnology Section at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna and President of the 1st Diploma Examination Commission, 1990–1992
  • Subject librarian for biology and molecular biology at the Austrian Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research (FWF), 1982–1990
  • Member of the Austrian Research Promotion Council, 1994–1998
  • Member of the Senate of the Christian Doppler Society , 1988–2001
  • Member of the Committee for APART Scholarships of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1993–2002
  • Member of the planning commission of the ÖAW and member of the boards of trustees of the ÖAW (Institute for Sensor and Actuator Systems and Institute for Biophysics and Nanosystem Research)
  • Board member of the Austrian Society for Electron Microscopy, 1980–1996
  • Board member of the Austrian Society for Hygiene, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, 1983-2018
  • Vice President of the Erwin Schrödinger Society for Micro Sciences, 1988–1996
  • President of the Erwin Schrödinger Society for Nanosciences, 1999–2002; 2002–2010 Vice President
  • Representative of the FWF in the Research Promotion Fund for the Commercial Economy - FFF, 1997–2001
  • Member of the Board of Trustees for the Novartis Prize, 1998–2007
  • Presidential Council of the Austrian Trade Association and Managing Director of the Wilhelm Exner Medal Foundation, 2001–2014
  • Chairman of the local Scientific Advisory Board of the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2002–2007
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering (ISNSCE), 2004–2009
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the CALIT NanoBio Steering Committee, Center of Advanced Learning in Information Technologies (ICAM), Belgium, 2006–2009
  • Member of the Financial Advisory Board of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2009–2011
  • Member of the Assembly of Delegates of the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research, 2009–2015
  • Member of the Academy Council and Examination Committee of the OeAW, since 2011
  • Member of the Committee for Scientific Ethics at the Academy, since 2011

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://forschung.boku.ac.at/fis/suchen.person_publikationen?sprache_in=de&menue_id_in=102&id_in=2958
personal data
SURNAME Sleytr, Uwe B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sleytr, Uwe Bernd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian microbiologist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna