Professor Benjamin Schulz
Primary research interest
Molecular systems glycobiology
About me
I am a Professor in Biochemistry, with research interests in molecular systems biology and engineering protein post-translational modifications. I graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering and Science from The University of Queensland, after which I joined Proteome Systems, an Australian biotechnology company. I moved to the ETH Zurich in Switzerland for my doctoral studies, and then returned to the School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences as a post-doctoral research fellow, and now teaching and research academic.
Research focus and collaborations
The research in my group focuses on the mechanisms, biological roles and applications in biotechnology of glycosylation, the most abundant and complex post-translational modification of proteins. Glycosylation is important in biological processes such as viral infection, cancer, and development. This is because glycosylation is essential in biological activities as diverse as protein folding, fine-tuning protein enzymatic activity and determining protein-protein interactions. Half of all proteins are glycosylated, and a single protein can be modified by hundreds of different sugar moieties.
The diversity of glycoproteins therefore requires that we take a systems biology approach in our research. All our projects use a core set of methods in molecular biology, genetic manipulation, protein biochemistry, protein analysis and mass spectrometry. We aim to understand the mechanisms controlling glycosylation in these various systems to develop diagnostics, therapies, vaccines and applications in biotechnology.
We also use our systems biology approaches in diverse national and international collaborations in biomedicine, infectious disease, agriculture, and beverages.
Glycosylation in health and disease
Altered glycosylation is associated with cancer and infection. We aim to understand the mechanisms controlling this process using in vitro protein biochemistry, a yeast model system and human cells, to determine how it affects glycoprotein function.
Viral glycobiology
Glycosylation shields viruses from the immune response and is critical for many of the functions of viral proteins. This is especially important for the respiratory pathogens Influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2. We aim to understand the mechanisms controlling these processes using cell-based infection systems, protein structural and biochemical analyses, mass spectrometry glycoproteomics, and bioinformatics to determine their impact on viral biology and vaccine design.
Engineering glycoprotein biopharmaceuticals
Many important biopharmaceuticals are glycoproteins, such as monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. The glycosylation and other post-translational modifications of these proteins are critical for their function, but recombinant proteins produced from mammalian cell culture are often different to the native proteins. We use mass spectrometry for detailed structural analysis of biopharmaceuticals, and cell-line and protein engineering to improve their quality.
Beer, wine, and yeast
Beer brewing and wine making are perhaps the most ancient biotechnologies. We use modern analytical techniques to investigate and improve these complex and important processes, and to investigate the metabolic diversity of wild yeasts.
Group members
- Ms Joy Seit, PhD student
- Mr Daniel Ellis, PhD student
- Ms Shulei Liu, PhD student
- Mr Kyle Macauslane, PhD student
Funded projects
- NHMRC e-ASIA Grant 2023-2025.
Gut leak and microbiome contribution to severe dengue disease. - ARC Linkage Grant 2022-2026.
Applications-oriented elucidation of germination triggers for Emu Bush seed. - NHMRC Ideas Grant 2020-2022.
The dynamic glycoproteome in influenza infection.
Teaching interests
- BIOC2000 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- BIOC3000 Structural & Synthetic Biology
- BIOC7040 Advanced Protein & Nucleic Acids
- BIOC 2001 Foundations of Biophysics
- SCIE1200 Introduction to Science Research
- SCIE2020 CSI UQ: Introduction to Forensic Science
- VETS1003 Digestion, Metabolism & Nutrition
Achievements and awards
- SCMB HDR Supervision Excellence Award 2022
- UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award 2017
- ASBMB Bioplatforms Australia Award 2015
- ASBMB Eppendorf Edman Award 2015
Featured publications
- Pegg, Cassandra L., Modhiran, Naphak, Parry, Rhys H., Liang, Benjamin, Amarilla, Alberto A., Khromykh, Alexander A., Burr, Lucy, Young, Paul R., Chappell, Keith, Schulz, Benjamin L., and Watterson, Daniel (2023). The role of N-glycosylation in spike antigenicity for the SARS-CoV-2 gamma variant. Glycobiology 34 (2) cwad097 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cwad097
- Kerr, Edward D., Fox, Glen P., and Schulz, Benjamin L. (2023). Proteomics and metabolomics reveal that an abundant α-glucosidase drives sorghum fermentability for beer brewing. Journal of Proteome Research 22 (11) 3596-3606. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00436
- Kerr, Edward D., Caboche, Christopher H., Pegg, Cassandra L., Phung, Toan K., Gonzalez Viejo, Claudia, Fuentes, Sigfredo, Howes, Mark T., Howell, Kate and Schulz, Benjamin L. (2021).The post-translational modification landscape of commercial beers. Scientific Reports, 11 (1) 15890, 15890. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95036-0
- Zacchi, Lucia F., Roche-Recinos, Dinora, Pegg, Cassandra L., Phung, Toan K., Napoli, Mark, Aitken, Campbell, Sandford, Vanessa, Mahler, Stephen M., Lee, Yih Yean, Schulz, Benjamin L. and Howard, Christopher B. (2021).Coagulation factor IX analysis in bioreactor cell culture supernatant predicts quality of the purified product. Communications Biology, 4 (1) 390, 390. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-01903-x
- Pegg CL, Phung TK, Caboche CH, Niamsuphap S, Bern M, Howell K, Schulz BL (2020) Quantitative Data-Independent Acquisition Glycoproteomics of Sparkling Wine. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2020 Dec 21;20:100020. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA120.002181.
- Stevens KLP, Black AL, Wells KM, Yeo KYB, Steuart RFL, Stirling CJ, Schulz BL, Mousley CJ. Diminished Ost3-dependent N-glycosylation of the BiP nucleotide exchange factor Sil1 is an adaptive response to reductive ER stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Nov 21;114(47):12489-12494. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1705641114.
Researcher biography
I graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering and Science in 2000 from The University of Queensland, after which I joined Proteome Systems, an Australian biotechnology company. In 2004 I moved to the ETH Zurich in Switzerland for my doctoral studies. I joined the School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences as a University of Queensland Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2008 and NHMRC Career Development Fellow in 2012. I am now Associate Professor in Biochemistry.