ZMB Member Barbara Saccà

ZMB Member
Barbara Saccà

Next ZMB-Member
portrait photo of ZMB member Barbara Saccà
© UDE/B.Saccà

Prof. Dr. Barbara Saccà

Center of Medical Biotechnology (ZMB)
Faculty of Biology
University of Duisburg-Essen
Universitätsstr. 2
45141 Essen

Research Overview

We use DNA nanotechnology to construct simplified models of complex biological systems, where single structural and functional parameters can be manipulated in a predictable fashion. Our scientific ambition is to gain a better understanding of three fundamental aspects of natural self-assembling systems: hierarchical order, spatial confinement, and dynamic response.

Figure: DNA Nanotechnology - from molecules to self-organized nanostructures
© B.Saccà
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Selected Publications

    Journal articles

  • Huang, Jing; Jaekel, Andreas; van den Boom, Johannes; Podlesainski, David; Elnaggar, M.; Heuer-Jungemann, A.; Kaiser, Markus; Meyer, Hemmo; Saccà, Barbara
    A modular DNA origami nanocompartment for engineering a cell-free, protein unfolding and degradation pathway
    In: Nature Nanotechnology , Vol. 19 2024, Nr. 10, pp. 1521 – 1531
  • Winat, Lena; Sacca, Barbara
    The primordial life of DNA dynamic networks
    In: Nature Catalysis , Vol. 3 2020, Nr. 11, pp. 865 – 866
  • Kosinski, Richard; Mukhortava, Ann; Pfeifer, Wolfgang; Candelli, Andrea; Rauch, Philipp; Sacca, Barbara
    Sites of high local frustration in DNA origami
    In: Nature Communications , Vol. 10 2019, Nr. 1, pp. 1061
  • Pfeifer, Wolfgang; Lill, Pascal; Gatsogiannis, Christos; Sacca, Barbara
    Hierarchical Assembly of DNA Filaments with Designer Elastic Properties
    In: ACS Nano , Vol. 12 2018, Nr. 1, pp. 44 – 55
  • Sprengel, Andreas; Lill, Pascal; Stegemann, Pierre; Bravo-Rodriguez, Kenny; Schöneweiß, Elisa-Charlott; Merdanovic, Melisa; Gudnason, Daniel; Aznauryan, Mikayel; Gamrad, Lisa; Barcikowski, Stephan; Sánchez-García, Elsa; Birkedal, Victoria; Gatsogiannis, Christos; Ehrmann, Michael; Sacca, Barbara
    Tailored protein encapsulation into a DNA host using geometrically organized supramolecular interactions
    In: Nature Communications , Vol. 8 2017, pp. 14472
  • Streich, Carmen; Akkari, Laura; Decker, Christina; Bormann, Jenny; Rehbock, Christoph; Müller-Schiffmann, Andreas; Niemeyer, Felix; Nagel-Steger, Luitgard; Willbold, Dieter; Sacca, Barbara; Kor, Carsten
    Characterizing the Effect of Multivalent Conjugates Composed of Aβ-Specific Ligands and Metal Nanoparticles on Neurotoxic Fibrillar Aggregation
    In: ACS Nano 2016, pp. 7582 – 7597
  • Poepsel, Simon; Sprengel, Andreas; Sacca, Barbara; Kaschani, Farnusch; Kaiser, Markus; Gatsogiannis, Christos; Raunser, Stefan; Clausen, Tim; Ehrmann, Michael
    Determinants of amyloid fibril degradation by the PDZ protease HTRA1
    In: Nature Chemical Biology , Vol. 11 2015, Nr. 11, pp. 862 – 869
  • Sacca, Barbara; Ishitsuka, Yuji; Meyer, Rebecca; Sprengel, Andreas; Schöneweiß, Elisa-Charlott; Nienhaus, G. Ulrich; Niemeyer, Christof M.
    Reversible reconfiguration of DNA origami nanochambers monitored by single-molecule FRET
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 54 2015, Nr. 12, pp. 3592 – 3597
  • Meyer, Rebecca; Sacca, Barbara; Niemeyer, Christof M.
    Site-Directed, on-surface assembly of DNA nanostructures
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 54 2015, Nr. 41, pp. 12039 – 12043
  • Sacca, Barbara; Niemeyer, Christof M.
    DNA Origami : The Art of Folding DNA
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 51 2012, Nr. 1, pp. 58 – 66
  • Sacca, Barbara; Niemeyer, Christof M.
    Functionalization of DNA nanostructures with proteins
    In: Chemical Society Reviews , Vol. 40 2011, Nr. 12, pp. 5910 – 5921
  • Sacca, Barbara; Niemeyer, Christof M.; Rabe, Kersten; Schroeder, Hendrik; Arndt, Andreas; Kiko, Kathrin; Erkelenz, Michael; Meyer, Rebecca
    Orthogonal Protein Decoration of DNA Origami
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 49 2010, Nr. 49, pp. 9378 – 9383
  • Feldkamp, Udo; Niemeyer, Christof M.; Sacca, Barbara
    Dendritic DNA Building Blocks for Amplified Detection Assays and Biomaterials
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 48 2009, Nr. 33, pp. 5996 – 6000
  • Sacca, Barbara; Niemeyer, Christof M.; Schroeder, Hendrik; Feldkamp, Udo; Meyer, Rebecca
    High-Throughput, Real-Time Monitoring of the Self-Assembly of DNA Nanostructures by FRET Spectroscopy
    In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Vol. 47 2008, Nr. 11, pp. 2135 – 2137
  • Mergny, Jean-Louis; De Cian, Anne; Ghelab, Amar; Sacca, Barbara; Lacroix, Laurent
    Kinetics of tetramolecular quadruplexes
    In: Nucleic Acids Research , Vol. 33 2005, Nr. 1, pp. 81 – 94
  • Amrane, Samir; Sacca, Barbara; Mills, Martin; Chauhan, Madhu; Klump, Horst H.; Mergny, Jean-Louis
    Length-dependent energetics of (CTG)n and (CAG)n trinucleotide repeats
    In: Nucleic Acids Research , Vol. 33 2005, Nr. 13, pp. 4065 – 4077
  • Sacca, Barbara; Lacroix, Laurent; Mergny, Jean-Louis
    The effect of chemical modifications on the thermal stability of different G-quadruplex-forming oligonucleotides
    In: Nucleic Acids Research , Vol. 33 2005, Nr. 4, pp. 1182 – 1192