Klaus Fütterer received his education in Germany, reading Physics at the University of Karlsruhe and earning a doctorate in Crystallography at TU Berlin. Following postdoctoral research at Australian National University, Canberra, Australia and at Washington University in St. Louis, USA, he joined the School of Biosciences in 2000.
Dr. Fütterer’s teaching is centred on first and final year modules of the BSc Biochemistry course. He delivers lectures and practicals in a wide range of areas, including structural biology, physical biochemistry and mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity. He favours an enquiry-based approach with a strong emphasis on interactive elements.
Explaining the molecular basis of biological phenomena requires detailed knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of proteins and their interaction partners. Dr. Fütterer’s group applies X-ray crystallography to elucidate structures of the catalytic machinery that assembles the cell envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen causing tuberculosis. Polymers of arabinose and galactose sugars are a major component of the waxy coat of the tubercle bacillus. Glycosyltransferase enzymes that play a central role in synthesising these polysaccharides not only offer opportunities for therapeutic intervention, but also represent a wealth of unique and underexplored molecular biology. Part of this effort forms the structural characterisation of potential anti-TB drug targets in complex with candidate drug compounds.
SM Batt, T Jabeen, V Bhowruth, L Quill, PA Lund, L Eggeling, LJ Alderwick, K Fütterer*, GS Besra* (2012) Structural basis of inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DprE1 by benzothiazinone inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109,11354-9.
L.J. Alderwick, G.S. Lloyd, H. Ghadbane, J.W. May, A. Bhatt, L. Eggeling, K. Fütterer*, G.S. Besra* (2011) The C-Terminal Domain of the Arabinosyltransferase Mycobacterium tuberculosis EmbC Is a Lectin-Like Carbohydrate Binding Module. PLoS Pathogens 7(2), e1001299
S.M. Batt, T. Jabeen, A.K. Mishra, N. Veerapen, K.Krumbach, L. Eggeling, G.S. Besra*, K. Fütterer* (2010) Acceptor substratediscrimination in phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannoside synthesis: structural andmutational analysis of mannosyltransferase Corynebacterium glutamicum PimB'. J Biol Chem 285, 37741-37752
C.E. Hughes, A.Y. Pollitt,J. Mori, J.A. Eble, M.G. Tomlinson, J.H. Hartwick, C.A. O'Callaghan, K.Fütterer, S.P. Watson (2010) Clec-2 activates Syk through dimerisation. Blood 115, 2947-2955.