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Univ.-Prof.in Dr.in Susanna Zierler

Research Interests
 

Our research at the Institute of Pharmacology focuses on immune cell signaling at the smallest level of ions. Herein we investigate the transport of ions across cell membranes and between organelles. The aim of our research is to gain a better understanding of the importance and regulation of cation channels at the cellular level and in the context of in vivo immune reactions. This should lead to the identification of novel pharmacological targets against pro-inflammatory diseases, allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. Particular interest lies on the dual-function transient-receptor-potential protein, TRPM7, which combines a divalent cation channel with a serine/threonine kinase, as well as the intracellular two-pore-channels, TPC1 and 2, which regulate organellar ion homeostasis and spatial calcium signaling.

 

Curriculum Vitae

Current Positions

Chair of the Institute of Pharmacology; Faculty of Medicine, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria

Group Leader at the Walther Straub Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

Professional Experience and Postdoctoral Training

Scientist (Assistant Professor), The Queen’s Medical Center, Center for Biomedical Research, John A. Burn’s School of Medicine, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Academic Education

Venia legendi (Habilitation) in Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical Faculty, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany

PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Cell Biology, Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS), Salzburg, Austria

Diploma (Master) in Biology and Environmental Studies and Mathematics (Teacher’s Training/Lehramt), PLUS, Salzburg, Austria

Diploma (Master) in Biology/Genetics, PLUS, Salzburg, Austria   

Honors, Awards, Scholarships and other Qualifications

Call for a Full-Professorship (§98) "Pharmacology" at the JKU Faculty of Medicine, Linz, Austria

Listings for Calls at the TU and LMU, Munich

Award in recognition of an outstanding PostDoc/Habilitation dissertation, Munich University Association (Münchner Universitätsgesellschaft)

Nomination for the Galenus von Pergamon Award, Springer

Marie Curie Stipendium, FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG (career integration grant) no. 322185, Research Executive Agency (REA), Brussel, Belgium

Erwin Schrödinger Stipend (Postdoctoral Fellowship) no. J2784, FWF, Vienna, Austria

DOC-Fforte (PhD-Fellowship) no. 21686, Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW), Vienna, Austria

Professional Memberships

Member of the Austrian Pharmacological Society ´ (APHAR)

Member of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP)

Member of Women Plus in Biophysics (WPIB)

Member of the Marie Curie Fellows Association (MCFA)

Member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für experimentelle und klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie (DGPT)

Member of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI)

Selected commissions of trust

Editorial Board Member: Functions (Oxford)

Reviewer for Deutsche Krebshilfe

Reviewer für Drug Research

Reviewer für Cells (MDPI)

Guest Editor: Frontiers in Immunology

Review Editor: Scientific Reports

Reviewer for Biochemical Society Transactions

Selected speaker invitations to international conferences

74th Annual Meeting of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Zierler S., Ezyme-coupled TRP Channels and Endolysosomal TPCs in Immune Homeostasis.

SGP Symposium – Ion Channels in Immunity (online) Zierler S., TRPM7 channel-kinase function – from cellular signaling to immune system homeostasis

98th Joint Physiology Meeting, Ulm, Germany, Zierler S., TRPM7 kinase in immune system homeostasis. (symposium organizer)

11th BioMedical Transporters Conference, Lucerne, Switzerland, Zierler S., TRP channels as therapeutic targets against pro-inflammatory diseases and hypersensitivity.

XV International Magnesium Symposium, Bethesda, NIH, USA, Zierler S., 
TRPM7-channel-kinase activity in cellular signalling and in vivo immune reactions.

Selected funded research projects
 

Project title

Role

Identifier

Agency

From- to

TR(I)Ps to homeostasis; The enzyme-coupled TRPM7 channel as a regulator of immune system homeostasis

PI, Liaison Executive Board

TRR-152/1/2, P14

DFG

2014-22

LMU MED funding (MMW) Role of TPC1 ion channels in exocytosis of mast cells

PI

No. 14/16

LMU

2016-18

ERA.net-RUS (FP7) TRPM7 in Regulation of T cell subsets and Purinergic Signaling

PI

ST-Projects No. 184

European

Commission

2012-16

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, FP7-PEOPLE-CIG, TRP channels in immunity

Coordinator,

PI

No. 322185

European

Commission

2012-16

Postdoctoral Fellowship (Schrödinger Stipend)

Structural Determinants of CRACM and STIM Interaction

PI

J 2784

FWF

2008-10

Selected publications

  1. Spix B., Butz E.S., Chen C.C., Plesch E., Wartenberg P., Scotto Rosato A., Arlt E., Briukhovetska D., Jeridi A., Wyatt A., Kissing S., Teupser D., Holdt L.M., Boehm U., García-Añoveros J., Saftig P., Schiller H.B., Kobold S., Boekhoff I., Zierler S., Wahl-Schott C., Gudermann G., Bracher F., Yildirim A.Ö., Biel M., Grimm C. Impaired MMP-12 clearance and emphysema-like phenotype in mucolipin 3 deficient mice. Nature Communications 2022, 13(1):318. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27860-x

  2. Nadolni W., Immler R., Hoelting K., Fraticelli M., Ripphahn M., Rothmiller S., Matsushita M., Boekhoff I., Gudermann T., Sperandio M., Zierler S. TRPM7 Kinase is essential for Neutrophil Recruitment and Function via Regulation of Akt/mTOR Signaling. Frontiers in Immunology  2021 doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.606893

  3. Arlt E., Fraticelli M., Tsvilovskyy V., O’Neill T.J., Wennemuth G., Breit A., Wahl-Schott C., Biel M., Freichel M., Grimm C., Gudermann T., Klugbauer N., Boekhoff I, Zierler S. Targeting the two-pore channel TPC1 augments systemic anaphylaxis and mast cell activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020 117:18068-18078. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1920122117

  4. Gerndt S., Chen C., Chao Y., Yuan Y., Burgstaller S., Scotto Rosato A., Krogsaeter E., Urban N., Jacob K., Nguyen O.N.P., Miller M.T., Keller M., Vollmar A.M., Gudermann T., Zierler S., Schredelseker J., Schaefer M., Biel M., Malli R., Wahl-Schott C., Bracher F., Patel S., Grimm C. Agonist-mediated switching of ion selectivity in TPC2 differentially promotes lysosomal function. eLife, 2020 doi: 10.7554/eLife.54712

  5. Voringer S., Schreyer L., Nadolni W., Woerther K., Mittermeier C., Ferioli S., Singer S., Holzer K., Zierler S., Chubanov V., Liebl B., Gudermann T., Muehlich S., Targeted inhibition of TRPM7 blocks MRTF/SRF-dependent transcriptional and tumorigenic activity. Oncogene 2019 doi: 10.1038/s41388-019-1140-8

  6. Romagnani A, Vettore V, Rezzonico-Jost T., Hampe S., Rottoli E., Nadolni W., Perotti M., Geiger S., Wennemuth G., Recordati C., Matsushita M., Proietti M., Chubanov V., Gudermann T., Grassi F., Zierler S. TRPM7 kinase activity is essential for T cell colonization and alloreactivity in the gut. Nature Communications 2017 8:1917. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01960-z

  7. Zierler S., Sumoza-Toledo A., Suzuki S., O’Duill F., Ryazanova L.V., Penner R., Ryazanov A.G., Fleig A. TRPM7 kinase activity regulates murine mast cell degranulation. The Journal of Physiology 2016 594, 2957-70. doi: 10.1113/JP271564

  8. Stritt S., Nurden P., Favier R., Favier M., Ferioli S., Gotru SK., van Eeuwijk JM., Schulze H., Nurden AT., Lambert MP., Turro E., Burger-Stritt S., MatsushitaM., Mittermeier L., Ballerini P., Zierler S., Laffan MA., Chubanov V., Gudermann T., Nieswandt B., Braun A. Defects in TRPM7 channel function deregulate thrombopoiesis through altered cellular Mg2+ homeostasis and cytoskeletal architecture. Nature Communications 2016 29, 7:11097 doi: 10.1038/ncomms11097

  9. Grossinger, EM., Weiss, L., Zierler, S., Rebhandl, S., Krenn, P. W., Hinterseer, E., Schmolzer, J., Asslaber, D., Hainzl, S., Neureiter, D., Egle, A., Pinon-Hofbauer, J., Hartmann, T. N., Greil, R., and Kerschbaum, H. H. Targeting proliferation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells through KCa3.1 blockade. Leukemia 2014 28:954-958, doi: 10.1038/leu.2014.37

  10. Ryazanova, L. V., Rondon, L. J., Zierler, S., Hu, Z., Galli, J., Yamaguchi, T.P., Mazur, A., Fleig, A., Ryazanov, A.G. TRPM7 is essential for Mg2+ homeostasis in mammals. Nature Communications 2010 1:109, doi: 10.1038/ncomms1108

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