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

• Dr Cassandra Pegg, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
• Mr Edward Kerr, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
• Ms Ruby Pelingon, PhD student
• Ms Chun Zhou, PhD student
• Mr Aiden Beauglehole, PhD student
• Mr Chris Caboche, PhD student
• Ms Marium Khaleque, PhD student
• Mr Lawrence Luo, PhD student
• Ms Joy Seit, PhD student
• Mr Daniel Ellis, PhD student
• Ms Shulei Liu, Masters student
• Mr Kyle Macauslane, Honours student

Funded projects

• ARC Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation 2017-2021.
• NHMRC Ideas Grant 2020-2022. The dynamic glycoproteome in influenza infection.

Teaching interests

• BIOC2000 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• BIOC3000 Structural & Synthetic Biology
• BIOC6007 Directed Studies in Biomolecular Structure & Function
• BIOT7018 Biologics
• BIPH2000 Foundations of Biophysics
• SCIE1200 Introduction to Science Research
• SCIE2020 CSI UQ: Introduction to Forensic Science
• VETS1003 Digestion, Metabolism & Nutrition

Achievements and awards 

• UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award 2017
• ASBMB Bioplatforms Australia Award 2015
• ASBMB Eppendorf Edman Award 2015

Featured publications

• 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.
• Zacchi, Lucia F. and Schulz, Benjamin L. (2016).SWATH-MS glycoproteomics reveals consequences of defects in the glycosylation machinery. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 15 (7), 2435-2447. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M115.056366