Sebastian D. Fugmann

Appointment：Professor

Lab：Laboratory of Molecular Immunology

Education：Ph.D.

University/Nation：University of Ulm / Germany

Tel：+886-3-211-8800 ext. 3478

E-mail：sdfugmann@mail.cgu.edu.tw

Research website：https://sites.google.com/view/fugmann-lab

Immune systems organize the interactions of hosts with invading microorganisms. While symbionts are welcome guests, pathogens cause disease (and in the worst case death) and are thus the target of immune responses. The most basic mechanisms of immunity are phagocytosis (the ability to eat and digest pathogens - phagocytic cells) and cytotoxicity (the ability to kill infected cells to release the pathogens they contain so that phagocytosis can eliminate them - killer cells). We are interested in understanding how the immune systems of metazoans (=animals) evolved from these two fundamental building blocks into the complex networks of diverse immune cell types and communication/effector molecules that form their common and diversified defense mechanisms. 

  Our model systems are marine invertebrates - currently we are using Strongylocentrotus          purpuratus (purple sea urchin) and Exaiptasia pallida (a sea anemone) together with its symbiont   Symbiodinium minutum, and at times Lingula anatina (a brachiopod) – and they allowed us to   recently discover that the enzymatic machinery that is required for generating high-affinity    antibodies already existed prior to the emergence of adaptive immunity.

Publications：

1.) Trajectory mapping of the early Drosophila germline reveals controls of zygotic activation and sex differentiation. Li YR, Lai HW, Huang HH, Chen HC, Fugmann SD, Yang SY. Genome Res. 2021 Apr 15:gr.271148.120. doi: 10.1101/gr.271148.120. 2018

2.) AID/APOBEC-like cytidine deaminases are ancient innate immune mediators in invertebrates.  Liu MC, Liao WY, Buckley KM, Yang SY, Rast JP, Fugmann SD.  Nat Commun. 2018 May 16;9(1):1948. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04273-x.

3.) Lectins identify distinct populations of coelomocytes in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.  Liao WY, Fugmann SD.  PLoS One. 2017 Nov 10;12(11):e0187987. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187987.

4.) Evidence for parallel evolution of a gene involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis.  Wang XR, Ling LB, Huang HH, Lin JJ, Fugmann SD, Yang SY.  Proc Biol Sci. 2017 May 31;284(1855):20170324. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0324.

5.) Collaboration of RAG2 with RAG1-like proteins during the evolution of V(D)J recombination.  Carmona LM, Fugmann SD, Schatz DG.  Genes Dev. 2016 Apr 15;30(8):909-17. doi: 10.1101/gad.278432.116.

6.) The identification of a novel SIRT6 modulator from Trigonella foenum-graecum using ligand fishing with protein coated magnetic beads.  Singh N, Ravichandran S, Spelman K, Fugmann SD, Moaddel R.  J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2014 Oct 1;968:105-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2014.03.016.

7.) Form follows function - the three-dimensional structure of antigen receptor gene loci.  Fugmann SD.  Curr Opin Immunol. 2014 Apr;27:33-7. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2014.01.011.

8.) Pharmacophore model of the quercetin binding site of the SIRT6 protein.  Ravichandran S, Singh N, Donnelly D, Migliore M, Johnson P, Fishwick C, Luke BT, Martin B, Maudsley S, Fugmann SD, Moaddel R.  J Mol Graph Model. 2014 Apr;49:38-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2014.01.004.

9.) Synthesis and characterization of a SIRT6 open tubular column: predicting deacetylation activity using frontal chromatography.  Singh N, Ravichandran S, Norton DD, Fugmann SD, Moaddel R.  Anal Biochem. 2013 May 15;436(2):78-83. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2013.01.018.

10.) Transcription, splicing, and release: are we there yet?  Sen R, Fugmann SD.  Cell. 2012 Jul 20;150(2):241-3. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.07.004.

11.) Synthesis and characterization of SIRT6 protein coated magnetic beads: identification of a novel inhibitor of SIRT6 deacetylase from medicinal plant extracts.

Yasuda M, Wilson DR, Fugmann SD, Moaddel R.  Anal Chem. 2011 Oct 1;83(19):7400-7. doi: 10.1021/ac201403y.

12.) Separation of mutational and transcriptional enhancers in Ig genes.  Kothapalli NR, Collura KM, Norton DD, Fugmann SD.  J Immunol. 2011 Sep 15;187(6):3247-55. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1101568.