Christian Kersten, Dr. rer. nat., Medical/Pharmaceutical Chemistry Specialisation
Pharmacist, Academic Councillor for Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Geography and Earth Sciences, Institute for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences (IPBW), Johannes Gutenberg-University (JGU), Mainz
| ORCID ID |
Current activity:
| 2017-current | Academic Councillor for Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Geography and Earth Sciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences (IPBW), Johannes Gutenberg-University (JGU), Mainz |
Academic Education:
2017 | PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) at the JGU Mainz, Dissertation title: Selectivity determining features in N-Myristoyltransferases - A Model System for Drug Targets with conserved Binding Sites |
| 2013 - 2017 | PhD in Pharmaceutical/Medical Chemistry, JGU, Mainz and University Bergen (UiB), Norwegen (2015-2016), Prof. Dr. Ruth Brenk |
| 2013 | Licence to practise pharmacy |
| 2007 - 2012 | Pharmacy studies, JGU, Mainz |
Former Activities:
| 2013 - 2017 | Scientific staff member, JGU Mainz, Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry |
| 2012 - 2013 | Pharmacist on traineeship, Hofapotheke Wiesbaden |
| 2012 | Pharmacist on traineeship, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt-Höchst, Quality control |
| 2011 | Student research assistant, JGU Mainz, Pharmaceutical Biology, Prof. Dr. Efferth |
Research focus
Computer-assisted drug design (CADD): virtual screening, molecular docking, Protein dynamics & MD Simulations, Selektivity, explicit solvent; Structural elucidation of protein-ligand complexes; Thermodynamics & Kinetics of ligand binding, especially protease inhibitors; RNA-small molecule Interactions; RNA-modifying enzymes, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)
Teaching
Basic Pharmacy and Bachelor of Science Molecular Biotechnology: General Chemistry, Qualitative and Quantitative Inorganic Analysis
Pharmacy Advanced Studies and Master of Science Biomedical Chemistry (BMC): Biochemistry, Drug substance and -analysis, principles and special aspects of drug design, computer-assisted drug design
Project supervision research module, B.Sc. and M.Sc. BMC, elective internship and practical year (PJ) Pharmacy
Topic specific publications (with Peer Review)
1. Johé, P.; Jaenicke, E.; Neuweiler, H.; Schirmeister, T.; Kersten, C.; Hellmich, U. A. Structure, Interdomain Dynamics and pH-Dependent Autoactivation of pro-Rhodesain, the Main Lysosomal Cysteine Protease from African Trypanosomes. J. Biol. Chem. 2021, 100565. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100565.
2. Johe, P.; Jung, S.; Endres, E.; Kersten, C.; Zimmer, C.; Ye, W.; Sönnichsen, C.; Hellmich, U. A.; Sotriffer, C.; Schirmeister, T.; Neuweiler, H. Warhead Reactivity Limits the Speed of Inhibition of the Cysteine Protease Rhodesain. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00911.
3. Knaff, P. M.; Kersten, C.; Willbold, R.; Champanhac, C.; Crespy, D.; Wittig, R.; Landfester, K.; Mailänder, V. From In Silico to Experimental Validation: Tailoring Peptide Substrates for a Serine Protease. Biomacromolecules 2020, 21 (4), 1636–1643. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00240.
4. Kersten, C.; Fleischer, E.; Kehrein, J.; Borek, C.; Jaenicke, E.; Sotriffer, C.; Brenk, R. How to Design Selective Ligands for Highly Conserved Binding Sites: A Case Study Using N-Myristoyltransferases as a Model System. J. Med. Chem. 2020, 63 (5), 2095–2113. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00586.
5. Welker, A.; Kersten, C.; Müller, C.; Madhugiri, R.; Zimmer, C.; Müller, P.; Zimmermann, R. A.; Hammerschmidt, S.; Maus, H.; Ziebuhr, J.; Sotriffer, C.; Schirmeister, T. SAR of Novel Benzamides and Isoindolines, Designed as SARS-CoV Protease Inhibitors – Effective against SARS-CoV-2. ChemMedChem 2020, 1–16. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.202000548.
6. Barthels, F.; Schirmeister, T.; Kersten, C.* BANΔIT: B’-Factor Analysis for Drug Design and Structural Biology. Mol. Inform. 2020, 2000144, 1–7. doi: 10.1002/minf.202000144.
7. Millies, B.; Von Hammerstein, F.; Gellert, A.; Hammerschmidt, S.; Barthels, F.; Göppel, U.; Immerheiser, M.; Elgner, F.; Jung, N.; Basic, M.; Kersten, C.; Kiefer, W.; Bodem, J.; Hildt, E.; Windbergs, M.; Hellmich, U. A.; Schirmeister, T. Proline-Based Allosteric Inhibitors of Zika and Dengue Virus NS2B/NS3 Proteases. J. Med. Chem. 2019, 62 (24), 11359–11382. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01697.
8. Fey, P.; Chartomatsidou, R.; Kiefer, W.; Mottram, J. C.; Kersten, C.; Schirmeister, T. New Aziridine- Based Inhibitors of Cathepsin L-like Cysteine Proteases with Selectivity for the Leishmania Cysteine Protease LmCPB2.8. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2018, 156, 587–597. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.07.012.