Brian Geisbrecht, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor
Undergraduate Advisor
Contact information
Office: 176 Chalmers Hall
Phone: 785-532-3154
Fax: 785-532-7278
E-mail: geisbrechtb@ksu.edu
Education
B.S. 1996, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
Ph.D. 2000, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Research video
Areas of specialty
- Innate Immunity
- Molecular Basis of Infectious Diseases and Host-Pathogen Interactions
- Structural Biology and Molecular Recognition
Our laboratory is focused on understanding the structure, function, and mechanism of innate immune evasion proteins expressed by pathogenic bacteria as well as blood-feeding insect species. Working both independently and collaboratively, we have helped uncover numerous new modes of inhibiting key enzymes required for proper functioning of the early innate immune system, particularly the complement system and neutrophils. Our long-term goal is to provide the basic science foundation needed to translate structural and mechanistic understanding of the early innate immune system into new types of anti-inflammatory therapies. We also seek to use the information gained from studies of innate immune evasion proteins to better understand the biochemical basis behind the host species tropism of pathogens. We use a combination of structural, biochemical, and informatics approaches to achieve our research goals.
Selected publications
Duan H, Wu W, Li P, Bouyain S, Garcia BL, Geisbrecht BV. Blocking activation of the C1r zymogen defines a novel mode of complement inhibition. J Biol Chem. 2025 Mar;301(3):108301.
Herdendorf TJ, Mishra N, Fatehi S, Gido CD, Prakash O, Geisbrecht BV. New advances in understanding inhibition of myeloperoxidase and neutrophil serine proteases by two families of staphylococcal innate immune evasion proteins. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2024 Nov;761:110177.
Mishra N, Gido CD, Herdendorf TJ, Hammel M, Hura GL, Fu ZQ, Geisbrecht BV. S. aureus Eap is a polyvalent inhibitor of neutrophil serine proteases. J Biol Chem. 2024 Sep;300(9):107627.
Fatehi S, Mishra N, Herdendorf TJ, Prakash O, Geisbrecht BV. Staphylococcal peroxidase inhibitor (SPIN): Investigation of the inhibitory N-terminal domain via a stabilizing disulfide insertion. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2024 Aug;758:110060.
Fatehi S, Herdendorf TJ, Ploscariu NT, Geisbrecht BV. Staphylococcal peroxidase inhibitor (SPIN): Residue-level investigation of the helical bundle domain. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2024 Jun;756:110023.
Atomwise AIMS Program. AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study. Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 2;14(1):7526.
Xu X, Herdendorf TJ, Duan H, Rohlik DL, Roy S, Zhou H, Alkhateeb H, Khandelwal S, Zhou Q, Li P, Arepally GM, Walker JK, Garcia BL, Geisbrecht BV. Inhibition of the C1s Protease and the Classical Complement Pathway by 6-(4-Phenylpiperazin-1-yl)Pyridine-3-Carboximidamide and Chemical Analogs. J Immunol. 2024 Feb 15;212(4):689-701.
Mishra N, Herdendorf TJ, Prakash O, Geisbrecht BV. Simultaneous inhibition of two neutrophil serine proteases by the S. aureus innate immune evasion protein EapH2. J Biol Chem. 2023 Jul;299(7):104878.
Gido CD, Herdendorf TJ, Geisbrecht BV. Characterization of two distinct neutrophil serine protease-binding modes within a Staphylococcus aureus innate immune evasion protein family. J Biol Chem. 2023 Mar;299(3):102969.
Geisbrecht BV, Lambris JD, Gros P. Complement component C3: A structural perspective and potential therapeutic implications. Semin Immunol. 2022 Jan;59:101627.