PUBLICATIONS

Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Mussfeldt T, Boesner J, Dluzak T, Sutter K, Schwarzer R. A Standardized workflow for Orthohantavirus production, detection, and antiviral screening. Virol J. 2026 Mar 21. doi: 10.1186/s12985-026-03136-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41864935.

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Describes a standardized experimental workflow for orthohantavirus production, infection detection, and antiviral screening, enabling more reproducible comparative assays.

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Narayanan VHB, Lewandowski A, Durai RD, Wawrzyniak P, Folami S, Weber L, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Brzeziński M, Schwarzer R. Development of Biocompatible Nanocarriers for Antiretrovirals Based on Polylactide and Chitosan. AAPS PharmSciTech. 2026 Mar 10;27(3):135. doi: 10.1208/s12249-026-03356-z. PMID: 41807745.

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Develops biocompatible polylactide- and chitosan-based nanocarriers intended to improve antiretroviral delivery.

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Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Petrich A, Schade M, Nilson N, Chibrac-Ahad L, Lehmann MJ, Paulick K, Weiss S, Dluzak T, Bourquain D, Witkowski PT, Krüger DH, Herrmann A, Schwarzer R. Remodelling of P-bodies and the cytoskeleton by Orthohantavirus puumalaense (Puumala virus). J Gen Virol. 2026 Feb;107(2):002220. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.002220. PMID: 41678361; PMCID: PMC12900389.

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Shows that Puumala virus infection remodels P-bodies and the cytoskeleton, linking cell-state reorganization to orthohantavirus infection biology.

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Wrobeln A, Martin Schäper T, Schild Y, Kleine-Möllhoff L, Leu T, Jägers J, Budeus B, Heinrich A, Schwarzer-Sperber H, Schwarzer R, Börger V, Winning S, Fandrey J. Roxadustat enhances inflammation and metabolic reprogramming in human leukocytes by affecting oxygen sensing. J Immunol. 2025 Dec 1;214(12):3321-3331. doi: 10.1093/jimmun/vkaf167. PMID: 40796302.

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Demonstrates that roxadustat amplifies inflammatory signaling and metabolic rewiring in human leukocytes by altering oxygen-sensing pathways.

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Omer EA, Abdelfatah S, Shahhamzehei N, Guthart A, Sutter K, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Schwarzer R, Efferth T. Identification of nsp16 inhibitors of SARS -CoV-2, SARS -CoV-1 and MERS-CoV from FDA-approved drugs using in silico and in vitro methods. Biomed Pharmacother. 2025 Aug;189:118246. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118246. Epub 2025 Jun 20. PMID: 40543162.

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Identifies FDA-approved drug candidates that inhibit the coronavirus methyltransferase nsp16 across SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and MERS-CoV.

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Fayyaz S, Lotke R, Haußmann I, Petersen M, Müller E, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Schwarzer R, Sauter D. Reactivation of latent HIV-1 by the glucocorticoid receptor modulator AZD9567. J Virol. 2025 Feb 25;99(2):e0188624. doi: 10.1128/jvi.01886-24. Epub 2025 Jan 16. PMID: 39817774; PMCID: PMC11853017.

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Shows that the glucocorticoid receptor modulator AZD9567 can reactivate latent HIV-1.

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Shahhamzehei N, Abdelfatah S, Omer EA, Riedl M, Meesters C, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Sutter K, Bringmann G, Schwarzer R, Efferth T. Diketopiperazine/piperidine alkaloid as a potential broad-spectrum coronaviral entry inhibitor identified by supercomputer-based virtual screening from a large natural product-based library. Biomed Pharmacother. 2025 Feb;183:117841. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2025.117841. Epub 2025 Jan 13. PMID: 39809126.

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Identifies a natural-product-derived compound with potential broad-spectrum coronavirus entry-inhibitory activity through virtual screening and validation.

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Caudal A, Liu Y, Pang PD, Maison DP, Nakasuka K, Feng J, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Schwarzer R, Moffatt E, Henrich TJ, Padmanabhan A, Connolly AJ, Wu JC, Tseng ZH. Transcriptomic Profiling of Human Myocardium at Sudden Death to Define Vulnerable Substrate for Lethal Arrhythmias. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2025 Jan;11(1):143-155. doi: 10.1016/j.jacep.2024.08.013. Epub 2024 Nov 15. PMID: 39545913; PMCID: PMC11809765.

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Defines myocardial transcriptomic signatures at sudden death that may mark tissue vulnerable to lethal arrhythmias.

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Shahhamzehei N, Abdelfatah S, Schwarzer-Sperber HS, Sutter K, Yücer R, Bringmann G, Schwarzer R, Efferth T. Identification of nitrile-containing isoquinoline-related natural product derivatives as coronavirus entry inhibitors in silico and in vitro. Biomed Pharmacother. 2024 Nov;180:117517. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.117517. Epub 2024 Oct 1. PMID: 39357326.

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Identifies nitrile-containing isoquinoline-related natural product derivatives that inhibit coronavirus entry in silico and in vitro.

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Kong W, Frouard J, Xie G, Corley MJ, Helmy E, Zhang G, Schwarzer R, Montano M, Sohn P, Roan NR, Ndhlovu LC, Gan L, Greene WC. Neuroinflammation generated by HIV-infected microglia promotes dysfunction and death of neurons in human brain organoids. PNAS Nexus. 2024 Apr 29;3(5):pgae179. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae179. PMID: 38737767; PMCID: PMC11086946.

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Shows that HIV-infected microglia generate neuroinflammation that drives neuronal dysfunction and death in human brain organoids.

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Sperber HS, Raymond KA, Bouzidi MS, Ma T, Valdebenito S, Eugenin EA, Roan NR, Deeks SG, Winning S, Fandrey J, Schwarzer R, Pillai SK. The hypoxia-regulated ectonucleotidase CD73 is a host determinant of HIV latency. Cell Rep. 2023 Nov 28;42(11):113285. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113285. Epub 2023 Oct 31. PMID: 37910505; PMCID: PMC10838153.

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Identifies the hypoxia-regulated ectonucleotidase CD73 as a host determinant that helps shape HIV latency.

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Menke L, Sperber HS, Aji AK, Chiantia S, Schwarzer R, Sieben C. Advances in fluorescence microscopy for orthohantavirus research. Microscopy (Oxf). 2023 Jun 8;72(3):191-203. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfac075. Erratum in: Microscopy (Oxf). 2023 Aug 4;72(4):381. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfad013. PMID: 36639937.

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Reviews how modern fluorescence microscopy approaches can advance orthohantavirus research.

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Sperber HS, Sutter K, Müller K, Müller P, Schwarzer R. The Bovine Seminal Plasma Protein PDC-109 Possesses Pan-Antiviral Activity. Viruses. 2022 Sep 13;14(9):2031. doi: 10.3390/v14092031. PMID: 36146836; PMCID: PMC9504757.

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Shows that the bovine seminal plasma protein PDC-109 has broad antiviral activity.

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Packard TA, Schwarzer R, Herzig E, Rao D, Luo X, Egedal JH, Hsiao F, Widera M, Hultquist JF, Grimmett ZW, Messer RJ, Krogan NJ, Deeks SG, Roan NR, Dittmer U, Hasenkrug KJ, Greene WC. CCL2: a Chemokine Potentially Promoting Early Seeding of the Latent HIV Reservoir. mBio. 2022 Oct 26;13(5):e0189122. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01891-22. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PMID: 36073812; PMCID: PMC9600577.

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Implicates the chemokine CCL2 in promoting early establishment of the latent HIV reservoir.

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Klug YA, Schwarzer R, Ravula T, Rotem E, Ramamoorthy A, Shai Y. Structural and Mechanistic Evidence for Calcium Interacting Sites in the HIV Transmembrane Protein gp41 Involved in Membrane Fusion. Biochemistry. 2022 Sep 6;61(17):1915-1922. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00372. Epub 2022 Aug 22. PMID: 35994087; PMCID: PMC9454089.

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Maps calcium-interacting sites in HIV gp41 and links them to the membrane fusion mechanism.

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Welke RW, Sperber HS, Bergmann R, Koikkarah A, Menke L, Sieben C, Krüger DH, Chiantia S, Herrmann A, Schwarzer R. Characterization of Hantavirus N Protein Intracellular Dynamics and Localization. Viruses. 2022 Feb 23;14(3):457. doi: 10.3390/v14030457. PMID: 35336863; PMCID: PMC8954124.

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Characterizes the intracellular dynamics and localization behavior of hantavirus nucleocapsid protein.

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Ettich J, Werner J, Weitz HT, Mueller E, Schwarzer R, Lang PA, Scheller J, Moll JM. A Hybrid Soluble gp130/Spike-Nanobody Fusion Protein Simultaneously Blocks Interleukin-6 trans-Signaling and Cellular Infection with SARS-CoV-2. J Virol. 2022 Feb 23;96(4):e0162221. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01622-21. Epub 2021 Dec 22. PMID: 34935434; PMCID: PMC8865451.

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Describes a dual-function fusion protein that blocks both IL-6 trans-signaling and SARS-CoV-2 cellular infection.

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Gramatica A, Schwarzer R, Brantley W, Varco-Merth B, Sperber HS, Hull PA, Montano M, Migueles SA, Rosenthal D, Hogan LE, Johnson JR, Packard TA, Grimmett ZW, Herzig E, Besnard E, Nekorchuk M, Hsiao F, Deeks SG, Snape M, Kiernan B, Roan NR, Lifson JD, Estes JD, Picker LJ, Verdin E, Krogan NJ, Henrich TJ, Connors M, Ott M, Pillai SK, Okoye AA, Greene WC. Evaluating a New Class of AKT/mTOR Activators for HIV Latency Reversing Activity Ex Vivo and In Vivo. J Virol. 2021 Mar 25;95(8):e02393-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02393-20. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PMID: 33536176; PMCID: PMC8103695.

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Evaluates a new class of AKT/mTOR activators as HIV latency-reversing agents in ex vivo and in vivo settings.

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Schwarzer Lab

Mechanisms of Viral Persistence

Peer-reviewed publications