Frank Lennartz

frank lennartz

Frank Lennartz spent six years with us as a postdoctoral research fellow. He made major contributions to our knowledge of the PfEMP1 proteins of the surfaces of malaria-infected erythrocytes. In particular, he determined the molecular basis for the binding of PfEMP1 to ICAM-1 and investigated dual ICAM-1 and EPCR binding PfEMP1 and their role in cerebral malaria. Frank also pioneered our studies of the Pfs48/45 protein and determined the structural basis for its inhibition by a transmission blocking antibody.

Frank is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Humboldt-University in Berlin and at the Helmholtz-Zentrum.

Publications while in the Higgins lab:

Ko, K.T.*, Lennartz, F.*, Mekhaiel, D.*, Guloglu, B., Marini, A., Deuker, D.J., Long, C.A., Jore, M.M., Miura, M., Biswas, S. and Higgins, M.K. (2022) Structure of the malaria vaccine candidate Pfs48/45 and its recognition by transmission blocking antibodies. Nature Communications 13 5603 (* equal contribution)

Lennartz, F., Smith, C., Craig, A.G. and Higgins, M.K. (2019) Structural insights into diverse modes of ICAM-1 binding by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 116 20124-20134

Lennartz, F., Brod,F, Dabbs, R, Miura, K, Mekhaiel, D, Marini, A, Jore, M.M., Søgaard, M.M, Jørgensen, T., de Jongh, W.A., Sauerwein, R.W., Long, C.A., Biswas, S.* and Higgins, M.K*. (2018) Structural basis for recognition of the malaria vaccine candidate Pfs48/45 by a transmission blocking antibody. Nature Communications 9 3822

Carrington, E., Otto, T.D., Szestak, T., Lennartz, F., Higgins, M.K., Newbold, C.I. and Craig, A.G. (2018) In silico guided reconstruction and analysis of ICAM-1-binding var genes from Plasmodium falciparum. Sci Rep. 8 3282

Lennartz, F., Lavstsen, T. and Higgins, M.K. (2017) Towards an anti-disease malaria vaccine. Emerging topics in Life Sciences 1 539-45

Lennartz, F., Adams, Y., Bengtsson, A., Olsen, R.W., Turner, L., Ndam, N.T., Ecklu-Mensah, G., Moussiliou, A., Ofori, M.F., Gamain, B., Lusingu, J.P., Petersen, J.E.V, Wang, C.W., Nunes-Silva, S., Jespersen, J.S., Lau, C.K.W., Theander, T.G., Lavstsen, T., Hviid, L., Higgins, M.K.*, Jensen, A.T.R * (2017) Structure-guided identification of a family of dual receptor binding PfEMP1 that are associated with cerebral malaria. Cell Host and Microbe 21 403-414 

Lennartz, F., Bengtsson, A., Olsen, R.W., Joergensen, L., Brown, A., Remy, L., Man, P., Forest, E., Barfod, L.K., Adams, Y., Higgins, M.K.* and Jensen A.T. * (2015) Mapping the binding site of a cross-reactive Plasmodium falciparum PfEMP1 mAb inhibitory of ICAM-1 binding. J. Immunol. 195 3273-3283