Prof. Dr. Leonhard Möckl
Professorship of Nano-optical Imaging
Prof. Dr. Leonhard Möckl
Professorship of Nano-optical Imaging
We use advanced optical tools to understand biomedical processes at the molecular scale, especially in the context of glycobiology and -immunology.
Research projects
- Investigation of bisacylphophane oxides (BAPOs) as novel photolatent anticancer compounds
- Super resolution microscopy-based analysis of the functional of the glycocalyx
- iSCAT-based analysis of glycan dynamics
- Microscopical investigation of membrane protein architecture
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J110: Epithelial telomere shortening in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis
(FAU Funds)
Project leader:
Term: 1. November 2024 - 30. April 2027Various factors contribute to the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). Importantly, telomere shortening is often observed in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) of patients with UC. Nevertheless, the functional role telomere length in IECs is poorly understood. This project aims to evaluate how telomere length is involved in the regulation of pro-inflammatory pathways and affects the barrier integrity in patients with UC.
2025
- Brunner, C.M., Pietsch, L., vom Sondern, I., Röhrl, M., Popov, C.R., Trollmann, M.,... Möckl, L. (2025). Bottom-up Investigation of Spatiotemporal Glycocalyx Dynamics with Interferometric Scattering Microscopy. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147(36), 32799-32808. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c08659
- Fritsche, S., & Möckl, L. (2025). A framework for the simulation of individual glycan coordinates to analyze spatial relationships within the glycocalyx. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2024.1519831
- George, B.M., Eleftheriou, M., Yankova, E., Perr, J., Chai, P., Nestola, G.L.,... Tzelepis, K. (2025). Treatment of acute myeloid leukemia models by targeting a cell surface RNA-binding protein. Nature Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02648-2
- Masullo, L.A., Almahayni, K., Pachmayr, I., Honsa, M., Heinze, L., Fritsche, S.,... Möckl, L. (2025). Ångström-resolution imaging of cell-surface glycans. Nature Nanotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-01966-5
- Perr, J., Langen, A., Almahayni, K., Nestola, G., Chai, P., Lebedenko, C.G.,... Flynn, R.A. (2025). RNA-binding proteins and glycoRNAs form domains on the cell surface for cell-penetrating peptide entry. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.040
- Perr, J., Langen, A., Almahayni, K., Nestola, G., Chai, P., Lebedenko, C.G.,... Flynn, R.A. (2025). RNA-binding proteins and glycoRNAs form domains on the cell surface for cell-penetrating peptide entry. Cell, 188(7), 1878-1895.e25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.040
2024
- Almahayni, K., Bachir Salvador, J., Conti, R., Widera, A., Spiekermann, M., Wehner, D.,... Möckl, L. (2024). Tailored Bisacylphosphane Oxides for Precise Induction of Oxidative Stress-Mediated Cell Death in Biological Systems. ACS Chemical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.4c00399
- Almahayni, K., Bachir Salvador, J., Moonnukandathil Joseph, D., Yurekli, N., Möllmert, S., & Möckl, L. (2024). From Biophysics to Biomedical Physics. ACS Bio & Med Chem Au, 5, 320-333. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.4c00096
- Holler, C., Taylor, R.W., Schambony, A., Möckl, L., & Sandoghdar, V. (2024). A paintbrush for delivery of nanoparticles and molecules to live cells with precise spatiotemporal control. Nature Methods. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02177-x
- Rodríguez, C., Arlt, S., Möckl, L., & Krenn, M. (2024). Automated discovery of experimental designs in super-resolution microscopy with XLuminA. Nature Communications, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54696-y
2023
- Almahayni, K., Almahayni, K., Nestola, G., Spiekermann, M., & Möckl, L. (2023). Simple, Economic, and Robust Rail-Based Setup for Super-Resolution Localization Microscopy. Journal of Physical Chemistry A. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.3c01351
- Almahayni, K., & Möckl, L. (2023). Setting the stage for universal pharmacological targeting of the glycocalyx. In Ibra S. Fancher, Andreia Z. Chignalia (Eds.), Current Topics in Membranes. (pp. 61-88). Academic Press Inc..
2022
- Almahayni, K., Spiekermann, M., Fiore, A., Yu, G., Pedram, K., & Möckl, L. (2022). Erratum to “Small molecule inhibitors of mammalian glycosylation” [Matrix Biol. Plus 16C (2022) 100108] (Matrix Biology Plus (2022) 16, (S2590028522000084), (10.1016/j.mbplus.2022.100108)). Matrix Biology Plus, 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbplus.2022.100126
- Almahayni, K., Spiekermann, M., Fiore, A., Yu, G., Pedram, K., & Möckl, L. (2022). Small molecule inhibitors of mammalian glycosylation. Matrix Biology Plus, 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbplus.2022.100108
- Almahayni, K., Spiekermann, M., & Möckl, L. (2022). Fluorophores’ talk turns them dark. Nature Methods, 19(8), 932-933. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01565-5
- Wang, J., Han, M., Roy, A.R., Wang, H., Möckl, L., Zeng, L.,... Qi, L.S. (2022). Multi-color super-resolution imaging to study human coronavirus RNA during cellular infection. Cell Reports: Methods, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100170
2021
- Evers, J., Herzog, C., & Möckl, L. (2021). Die Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: Von kleinen Anfängen zum steilen Aufstieg. Chemie in Unserer Zeit, 55(2), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1002/ciuz.201900034
- Wisnovsky, S., Möckl, L., Malaker, S.A., Pedram, K., Hess, G.T., Riley, N.M.,... Bertozzi, C.R. (2021). Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal a specific ligand for the glycan-binding immune checkpoint receptor Siglec-7. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(5). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015024118
- Yoshikawa, A.M., Rangel, A., Feagin, T., Chun, E.M., Wan, L., Li, A.,... Soh, H.T. (2021). Discovery of indole-modified aptamers for highly specific recognition of protein glycoforms. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26933-1
2020
- Debets, M.F., Tastan, O.Y., Wisnovsky, S.P., Malaker, S.A., Angelis, N., Möckl, L.,... Schumann, B. (2020). Metabolic precision labeling enables selective probing of O-linked N-acetylgalactosamine glycosylation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(41), 25293-25301. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2007297117
- Möckl, L. (2020). The Emerging Role of the Mammalian Glycocalyx in Functional Membrane Organization and Immune System Regulation. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00253
- Möckl, L., & Moerner, W.E. (2020). Super-resolution Microscopy with Single Molecules in Biology and Beyond-Essentials, Current Trends, and Future Challenges. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(42), 17828-17844. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c08178
- Möckl, L., Roy, A.R., & Moerner, W.E. (2020). Deep learning in single-molecule microscopy: Fundamentals, caveats, and recent developments [Invited]. Biomedical Optics Express, 11(3), 1633-1661. https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.386361
- Möckl, L., Roy, A.R., Petrov, P.N., & Moerner, W.E. (2020). Accurate and rapid background estimation in single-molecule localization microscopy using the deep neural network BGnet. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(1), 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916219117
- Raddaoui, N., Croce, S., Geiger, F., Borodavka, A., Möckl, L., Stazzoni, S.,... Carell, T. (2020). Supersensitive Multifluorophore RNA-FISH for Early Virus Detection and Flow-FISH by Using Click Chemistry. ChemBioChem, 21(15), 2214-2218. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202000081