Ulrich Eckhard

Dr. Ulrich Eckhard is a post-doctoral fellow in the Chris Overall Lab, based at the Centre for Blood Research (UBC). He graduated from the University of Salzburg, Austria, in November 2011, where he gained broad experience in molecular biology, protein biochemistry and biophysics, and structure determination, allowing him to successfully solve the long-standing puzzle of clostridial collagenolysis by x-ray crystallography (NSMB 28:10, 1109-1114, 2011).

With the MSFHR Trainee Award, Dr. Eckhard wants to spread his methodical spectrum up to omics-based methods to study human tissues and diseases.

By combining his expertise in protease biochemistry and the power of proteomics and transcriptomics, Dr. Eckhard aims to unravel the proteolytic networks in the initiation and progression of infection and inflammation and their role in premature labor. A multidisciplinary approach integrating systems biology, biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology will be pursued to provide the basis for novel biomarkers of subclinical infection and sensitive tests to predict the risk of premature delivery accurately and early enough to provide the best treatment.

Recent Publications

Eckhard U, Huesgen PF, Brandstetter H, Overall CM. Proteomic protease specificity profiling of clostridial collagenases reveals their intrinsic nature as dedicated degraders of collagen. J Proteomics. 2013 Oct 11. pii: S1874-3919(13)00513-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2013.10.004. [Epub ahead of print] (PubMed abstract)

Eckhard U, Schönauer E, Brandstetter H. Structural basis for activity regulation and substrate preference of clostridial collagenases G, H, and T. J Biol Chem. 2013 Jul 12;288(28):20184-94. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.448548. Epub 2013 May 23. (PubMed abstract)

auf dem Keller U, Prudova A, Eckhard U, Fingleton B, Overall CM. Systems-level analysis of proteolytic events in increased vascular permeability and complement activation in skin inflammation. Sci Signal. 2013 Jan 15;6(258):rs2. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2003512. (PubMed abstract)

Eckhard U, Schönauer E, Nüss D, Brandstetter H. Structure of collagenase G reveals a chew-and-digest mechanism of bacterial collagenolysis. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2011 Sep 25;18(10):1109-14. doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2127. (PubMed abstract)

Eckhard U, Brandstetter H. Polycystic kidney disease-like domains of clostridial collagenases and their role in collagen recruitment. Biol Chem. 2011 Nov;392(11):1039-45. doi: 10.1515/BC.2011.099. Epub 2011 Aug 28. (PubMed abstract)