Sebastian Deindl

Sebastian Deindl (born March 16, 1978 in Basel) is a German-Swedish biochemist, molecular biophysicist and structural biologist. In November 2024, Sebastian Deindl was selected for an Alexander von Humboldt professorship.^[1]

Education and career

Sebastian Deindl studied biochemistry at the University of Tübingen, where he became familiar with structural biology. He completed his degree in 2004 with a diploma. In 2009, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of John Kuriyan.^[2][3] During this time, his research focused on the biophysical mechanisms of signal transduction and the structure of protein complexes.

After completing his Ph.D., Deindl worked from 2009 to 2014 as a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow^[4] at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, where he was part of Xiaowei Zhuang's research group. There, he developed single-molecule techniques and applied them to the study of chromatin dynamics.^[5]

In 2014, Deindl assumed an assistant professorship at Uppsala University. He was promoted to associate professor in 2018 and appointed full professor of Molecular Biophysics in 2021^[6]. At Uppsala University, he leads a research group in the field of mechanistic chromatin biology^[7], which investigates the complex molecular structures and dynamics of nucleic acid-binding proteins and their collective role in regulating gene expression, particularly in the chromatin context.^[8] In 2024, he was selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, Germany’s most highly endowed research award^[9]. In this role, Deindl is expected to take up the Chair of Structural Biology at the Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB) at the University of Tübingen.^[10]

Honors and awards

• 2017: ERC Starting Grant^[1][11]
• 2019: EMBO Young Investigator Award^[1][12]
• 2022: ERC Advanced Grant^[1][13]
• 2024: Alexander von Humboldt professorship^[1]

Selected Publications

• Aguirre Rivera, J.; Mao, G.; Sabantsev, A.; Panfilov, M.; Hou, Q.; Lindell, M.; Chanez, C.; Ritort, F.; Jinek, M.; Deindl, S. (2024-08-23). "Massively parallel analysis of single-molecule dynamics on next-generation sequencing chips". Science. 385 (6711): 892–898. Bibcode:2024Sci...385..892A. doi:10.1126/science.adn5371. PMID 39172826.
• Bacic, Luka; Gaullier, Guillaume; Mohapatra, Jugal; Mao, Guanzhong; Brackmann, Klaus; Panfilov, Mikhail; Liszczak, Glen; Sabantsev, Anton; Deindl, Sebastian (2024-02-02). "Asymmetric nucleosome PARylation at DNA breaks mediates directional nucleosome sliding by ALC1". Nature Communications. 15 (1) 1000. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15.1000B. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45237-8. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 10837151. PMID 38307862.
• Marklund, Emil; Mao, Guanzhong; Yuan, Jinwen; Zikrin, Spartak; Abdurakhmanov, Eldar; Deindl, Sebastian; Elf, Johan (2022-01-28). "Sequence specificity in DNA binding is mainly governed by association". Science. 375 (6579): 442–445. Bibcode:2022Sci...375..442M. doi:10.1126/science.abg7427. PMID 35084952.
• Marklund, Emil; Van Oosten, Brad; Mao, Guanzhong; Amselem, Elias; Kipper, Kalle; Sabantsev, Anton; Emmerich, Andrew; Globisch, Daniel; Zheng, Xuan; Lehmann, Laura C.; Berg, Otto G.; Johansson, Magnus; Elf, Johan; Deindl, Sebastian (2020-07-23). "DNA Surface Exploration and Operator Bypassing During Target Search". Nature. 583 (7818): 858–861. Bibcode:2020Natur.583..858M. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2413-7. PMID 32581356.
• Bowman, Gregory D.; Deindl, Sebastian (2019-10-04). "Remodeling the genome with DNA twists". Science. 366 (6461): 35–36. Bibcode:2019Sci...366...35B. doi:10.1126/science.aay4317. PMID 31604293.
• Sabantsev, Anton; Levendosky, Robert F.; Zhuang, Xiaowei; Bowman, Gregory D.; Deindl, Sebastian (2019-04-12). "Direct observation of coordinated DNA movements on the nucleosome during chromatin remodelling". Nature Communications. 10 (1) 1720. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.1720S. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09657-1. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6461674. PMID 30979890.
• Hwang, William L.; Deindl, Sebastian; Harada, Bryan T.; Zhuang, Xiaowei (August 2014). "Histone H4 tail mediates allosteric regulation of nucleosome remodelling by linker DNA". Nature. 512 (7513): 213–217. Bibcode:2014Natur.512..213H. doi:10.1038/nature13380. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 4134374. PMID 25043036.
• Deindl, Sebastian; Kadlecek, Theresa A.; Brdicka, Tomas; Cao, Xiaoxian; Weiss, Arthur; Kuriyan, John (2007-05-18). "Structural Basis for the Inhibition of Tyrosine Kinase Activity of ZAP-70". Cell. 129 (4): 735–746. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.03.039. PMID 17512407.

References

1. "Sebastian Deindl". humboldt-foundation.de (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur 2025) (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
2. "Sebastian Deindl". humboldt-foundation.de (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur 2025) (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
3. "Sebastian Deindl Short CV". deindl-lab. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
4. Alison Fromme (2013-10-01). "Research & Achievements (2013)". Retrieved 2025-01-13.
5. "Sebastian Deindl Short CV". deindl-lab. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
6. "Sebastian Deindl". humboldt-foundation.de (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur 2025) (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
7. "Deindl lab". Uppsala University. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
8. "Deindl lab". Uppsala University. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
9. "Humboldt-Professuren locken Spitzenforscher nach Deutschland". heise (in German). 8 May 2009. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
10. "Sebastian Deindl". humboldt-foundation.de (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur 2025) (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
11. "Interessante Impulse und aktiver Austausch..." Laborjournal (in German). Retrieved 2025-01-13.
12. "Sebastian Deindl". people.embo.org. 2021. Retrieved 2025-01-13.
13. "SciLifeLab researcher Sebastian Deindl receives ERC Advanced Grant". SciLifeLab. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2025-01-13.

External links

• Sebastian Deindl at Uppsala University