Melina Mitnacht

We recently employed quantitative proteomics to systematically study the infection process of several Leishmania species in BMDMs. We identified hundreds of parasite proteins that are differentially expressed over the course of infection. Melina is investigating several candidate proteins to elucidate novel mechanisms involved in parasite adaptation during macrophage infection.

Publications

A Leishmania virulence factor harnesses an allosteric kinase switch to regulate its ubiquitin ligase activity (2025) Fokkens TJ, Rauh ET, Wolter M, Sebald H, Mitnacht M, Ainatzi S, Sprick S, Teschke L, Eisenhuth N, Huibregtse JM, Butter F, Urlaub H, Karnkowska A, Steinchen W, Schleicher U, Janzen CJ, Lorenz S. Mol Cell. Sep 24:S1097-2765(25)00743-9. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2025.09.002

The histone methyltransferase DOT1B is dispensable for stage differentiation and macrophage infection of Leishmania mexicana (2025) Eisenhuth N, Rauh ET, Mitnacht M, Debus A, Schleicher U, Butter F, Pruzinova K, Volf P, Janzen CJ. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. Jan 20;14:1502339. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2024.1502339.