Research

Our Interests

My lab is using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the atomic structures of macromolecules.

Molecular Virology and Microbiology

A special focus lies on infectious diseases. I have previously worked on the structures of human viruses, including HIV, ebola, polio, papilloma, polyoma and seneca valley virus, as well as some large insect viruses and bacteriophages. Another branch of research is focused on helical assemblies – in particular, bacterial and archaeal flagella that enable cellular motility. With significant experience in image processing methods, we have succeeded in determining the structures of objects with unconventional (e.g. superhelical) or no symmetry. The underlying goal in all projects is to link structure and function to discover mechanisms of pathogenicity, with the hope to contribute towards novel treatments of the related diseases.

A wider scale of view

At Academia Sinica, we will develop unique labels usable for light- and cryo-EM. We will combine fluorescence light microscopy, cellular tomography and single particle cryo-EM to characterize viral pathways in living cells.

Degrees and Positions Held
Positions Held
  • 2021 – present   Joint Appointment Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
  • 2019 – present   Associate Professor, Okinawa Institute of Technology (Okinawa, Japan), Head of the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit
  • 2011 – 2018   Assistant Professor, Okinawa Institute of Technology (Okinawa, Japan), Head of the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit
  • 2009 – 2011   Joint Appointment, Hogle Lab and Harrison Lab, Harvard Medical School
  • 2005 – 2011    Postdoctoral Fellow, Harrison Lab at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston, USA
  • 1999 – 2005   Graduate Research Fellow, PhD Program in Biophysics under Prof. N. Grigorieff, Brandeis University, MA, USA
Degrees
  • 2005   PhD in Biophysical and Structural Biology, Brandeis University, MA, USA
  • 1998   Mag.Pharm. (MPharm) in Pharmacy, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Selected Publications
COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling.
Matthews MM, Kim TG, Shibata S, Shibata N, Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim KY, Robb T, Jheng SS, Narita M, Mori T, Collins M, Wolf M*.
MedRxiv (2020)
Structure of polymerized Type V pilin reveals assembly mechanism involving protease-mediated strand exchange.
Shibata S, Shoji M, Okada K, Matsunami H, Matthews MM, Imada K*, Nakayama K*, Wolf M*.
Nature Microbiology (2020)
Torque transmission mechanism of the curved bacterial flagellar hook revealed by cryo-EM.
Shibata S, Matsunami H, Aizawa SI*, Wolf M*.
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2019)
High-resolution archaellum structure reveals a conserved metal binding site.
Meshcheryakov VA, Shibata S, Schreiber MT, Villar-Briones A, Jarrell KF, Aizawa SI*, Wolf M*.
EMBO Reports (2019)
Cryo-EM structure of the Ebola virus nucleoprotein-RNA complex at 3.6 Å resolution.
Sugita Y, Matsunami H, Kawaoka Y, Noda T, Wolf M*.
Nature (2018)
Structural basis for Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 recognition by Seneca Valley Virus.
Jayawardena N, Burga LN, Easingwood RA, Takizawa Y, Wolf M*, Bostina M*.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2018)
Structural Basis of Heterochromatin Formation by Human HP1.
Machida S, Takizawa Y, Ishimaru M, Sugita Y, Sekine S, Nakayama JI, Wolf M*, Kurumizaka H*.
Molecular Cell (2018)
Low-dose electron energy-loss spectroscopy using electron counting direct detectors.
Maigné A, Wolf M*.
Microscopy (Oxford, UK) (2018)
Subunit interactions in bovine papillomavirus.
Wolf M, Garcea RL, Grigorieff N, Harrison SC.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2010)
Ewald sphere correction for single-particle electron microscopy.
Wolf M, DeRosier DJ, Grigorieff N.
Ultramicroscopy (2006)
Publications List
  1. Matthews MM, Kim TG, Shibata S, Shibata N, Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim KY, Robb T, Jheng SS, Narita M, Mori T, Collins M, Wolf M.* (2021-05). COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 9475.
  2. Jayawardena N, Miles LA, Burga LN, Rudin C, Wolf M, Poirier JT, Bostina M. (2021-04). N-Linked Glycosylation on Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 Is Essential for Seneca Valley Virus Infection. Viruses, 13(5), 769.
  3. Matthews M.M., Kim TG, Shibata S., Shibata N., Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim K.Y., Robb T., Jheng S.S., Narita M., Mori T., Collins M., Wolf M.* (2020). COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling. MedRxiv.
  4. Shibata S., Shoji M, Okada K, Matsunami H, Matthews MM, Imada K*, Nakayama K*, Wolf M.* (2020). Structure of polymerized Type V pilin reveals assembly mechanism involving protease-mediated strand-exchange. Nature Microbiology, 5(6), 830-837.
  5. Takizawa Y., Ho C-H., Tachiwana H., Matsunami H., Kobayashi W., Suzuki M., Arimura Y., Hori T, Fukagawa T., Ohi M.D., Wolf M.*, Kurumizaka H.* (2020). Cryo-EM Structures of Centromeric Tri-nucleosomes Containing a Central CENP-A Nucleosome. Structure, 28(1), 44-53.e4.
  6. Shibata S., Matsunami H., Aizawa S*., Wolf M.* (2019). Torque transmission mechanism of the curved bacterial flagellar hook revealed by cryo-EM. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 26(10), 941-945.
  7. Meshcheryakov V.A, Shibata S., Schreiber M.T., Villar-Briones, A., Jarrell, K.F., Aizawa, S.* and Wolf M.* (2019). High-resolution archaellum structure reveals a conserved metal binding site. EMBO Reports, 20(5), e46340.
  8. Watson, B.N.J, Easingwood, R.A., Tong, B., Wolf M.., Salmond, G.P.C., Staals, R.H.J., Bostina, M. and Fineran, P.C. (2019). Different genetic and morphological outcomes for phages targeted by single or multiple CRISPR-Cas spacers. Phil. Trans. B, 374(1772), 20180090.
  9. Sugita, Y., Matsunami, H., Kawaoka, Y., Noda T., Wolf M.* (2018). Cryo-EM structure of the Ebola virus nucleoprotein-RNA complex at 3.6 Å resolution. Nature, 563(7729), 137-140.
  10. Jayawardena, N., Burga, L., Easingwood, R., Takizawa, Y., Wolf M.* and Bostina, M.* (2018). Structural basis for Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 recognition by Seneca Valley Virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 115(46), E10934-E10940.
  11. Machida, S., Takizawa, Y., Ishimaru, M., Sugita, Y., Sekine, S., Nakayama, J. ichi, Wolf M.* and Kurumizaka, H.* (2018). Structural Basis of Heterochromatin Formation by Human HP1. Molecular Cell, 69(3), 385–397.e8.
  12. Maigné, A., and Wolf M.* (2018). Low-dose electron energy-loss spectroscopy using electron counting direct detectors. Microscopy (Oxford, UK), 67(suppl_1), i86–i97.
  13. Murata, K.* and Wolf M.* (2018). Cryo-electron microscopy for structural analysis of dynamic biological macromolecules. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1862(2), 324–334.
  14. Takizawa, Y., Tanaka, H., Machida, S., Koyama, M., Maehara, K., Ohkawa, Y., Wade, P.A., Wolf M.* and Kurumizaka, H.* (2018). Cryo-EM structure of the nucleosome containing the ALB1 enhancer DNA sequence. Open Biology, 8(3), 170255.
  15. Matsunami, H., Barker, C.S., Yoon, Y.H., Wolf M., and Samatey, F.A. (2016). Complete structure of the bacterial flagellar hook reveals extensive set of stabilizing interactions. Nature Commun., 7, 13425.
  16. Meshcheryakov, V.A., and Wolf M.* (2016). Crystal structure of the flagellar accessory protein FlaH of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii suggests a regulatory role in archaeal flagellum assembly. Protein Sci., 25(6), 1147–1155.
  17. Sugita, Y., Kawaoka, Y., Noda, T., and Wolf M.* (2016). Structure of the Ebola Virus Nucleocapsid Core by Single Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy. Microsc. Microanal., 22(suppl 3), 66–67.
  18. Meshcheryakov, V.A., Yoon, Y.H., Matsunami, H., and Wolf M.* (2014). Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of the flagellar accessory protein FlaH from the methanogenic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. Acta Crystallogr. Sect. F Structural Biol. Commun., 70(Pt 11), 1543–1545.
  19. Wolf M., Garcea, R.L., Grigorieff, N., and Harrison, S.C. (2010). Subunit interactions in bovine papillomavirus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 107(14), 6298–6303.
  20. Xing, Y., Böcking, T., Wolf M., Grigorieff, N., Kirchhausen, T., and Harrison, S.C. (2010). Structure of clathrin coat with bound Hsc70 and auxilin: Mechanism of Hsc70-facilitated disassembly. EMBO J., 29(3), 655–665.
  21. Wolf M., DeRosier, D.J., and Grigorieff, N. (2006). Ewald sphere correction for single-particle electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 106(4-5), 376–382.
  22. Wolf M., Eberhart, A., Glossmann, H., Striessnig, J., and Grigorieff, N. (2003). Visualization of the domain structure of an L-type Ca2+channel using electron cryo-microscopy. J. Mol. Biol., 332(1), 171–182.
  23. Heinisch, G., Langer, T., Lukavsky, P., and Wolf M. (1996). Lipophilicity Determination of Diazine Analogs of Ridogrel. Part 1. A comparison of different analysis and Prediction Methods. Sci. Pharm., 64, 421–428.

Our Interests

My lab is using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the atomic structures of macromolecules.

Molecular Virology and Microbiology

A special focus lies on infectious diseases. I have previously worked on the structures of human viruses, including HIV, ebola, polio, papilloma, polyoma and seneca valley virus, as well as some large insect viruses and bacteriophages. Another branch of research is focused on helical assemblies – in particular, bacterial and archaeal flagella that enable cellular motility. With significant experience in image processing methods, we have succeeded in determining the structures of objects with unconventional (e.g. superhelical) or no symmetry. The underlying goal in all projects is to link structure and function to discover mechanisms of pathogenicity, with the hope to contribute towards novel treatments of the related diseases.

A wider scale of view

At Academia Sinica, we will develop unique labels usable for light- and cryo-EM. We will combine fluorescence light microscopy, cellular tomography and single particle cryo-EM to characterize viral pathways in living cells.

Positions Held
  • 2021 – present   Joint Appointment Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica
  • 2019 – present   Associate Professor, Okinawa Institute of Technology (Okinawa, Japan), Head of the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit
  • 2011 – 2018   Assistant Professor, Okinawa Institute of Technology (Okinawa, Japan), Head of the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit
  • 2009 – 2011   Joint Appointment, Hogle Lab and Harrison Lab, Harvard Medical School
  • 2005 – 2011    Postdoctoral Fellow, Harrison Lab at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston, USA
  • 1999 – 2005   Graduate Research Fellow, PhD Program in Biophysics under Prof. N. Grigorieff, Brandeis University, MA, USA
Degrees
  • 2005   PhD in Biophysical and Structural Biology, Brandeis University, MA, USA
  • 1998   Mag.Pharm. (MPharm) in Pharmacy, University of Innsbruck, Austria
COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling.
Matthews MM, Kim TG, Shibata S, Shibata N, Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim KY, Robb T, Jheng SS, Narita M, Mori T, Collins M, Wolf M*.
MedRxiv (2020)
Structure of polymerized Type V pilin reveals assembly mechanism involving protease-mediated strand exchange.
Shibata S, Shoji M, Okada K, Matsunami H, Matthews MM, Imada K*, Nakayama K*, Wolf M*.
Nature Microbiology (2020)
Torque transmission mechanism of the curved bacterial flagellar hook revealed by cryo-EM.
Shibata S, Matsunami H, Aizawa SI*, Wolf M*.
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2019)
High-resolution archaellum structure reveals a conserved metal binding site.
Meshcheryakov VA, Shibata S, Schreiber MT, Villar-Briones A, Jarrell KF, Aizawa SI*, Wolf M*.
EMBO Reports (2019)
Cryo-EM structure of the Ebola virus nucleoprotein-RNA complex at 3.6 Å resolution.
Sugita Y, Matsunami H, Kawaoka Y, Noda T, Wolf M*.
Nature (2018)
Structural basis for Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 recognition by Seneca Valley Virus.
Jayawardena N, Burga LN, Easingwood RA, Takizawa Y, Wolf M*, Bostina M*.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2018)
Structural Basis of Heterochromatin Formation by Human HP1.
Machida S, Takizawa Y, Ishimaru M, Sugita Y, Sekine S, Nakayama JI, Wolf M*, Kurumizaka H*.
Molecular Cell (2018)
Low-dose electron energy-loss spectroscopy using electron counting direct detectors.
Maigné A, Wolf M*.
Microscopy (Oxford, UK) (2018)
Subunit interactions in bovine papillomavirus.
Wolf M, Garcea RL, Grigorieff N, Harrison SC.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2010)
Ewald sphere correction for single-particle electron microscopy.
Wolf M, DeRosier DJ, Grigorieff N.
Ultramicroscopy (2006)
  1. Matthews MM, Kim TG, Shibata S, Shibata N, Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim KY, Robb T, Jheng SS, Narita M, Mori T, Collins M, Wolf M.* (2021-05). COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 9475.
  2. Jayawardena N, Miles LA, Burga LN, Rudin C, Wolf M, Poirier JT, Bostina M. (2021-04). N-Linked Glycosylation on Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 Is Essential for Seneca Valley Virus Infection. Viruses, 13(5), 769.
  3. Matthews M.M., Kim TG, Shibata S., Shibata N., Butcher C, Hyun J, Kim K.Y., Robb T., Jheng S.S., Narita M., Mori T., Collins M., Wolf M.* (2020). COVID-19 serological survey using micro blood sampling. MedRxiv.
  4. Shibata S., Shoji M, Okada K, Matsunami H, Matthews MM, Imada K*, Nakayama K*, Wolf M.* (2020). Structure of polymerized Type V pilin reveals assembly mechanism involving protease-mediated strand-exchange. Nature Microbiology, 5(6), 830-837.
  5. Takizawa Y., Ho C-H., Tachiwana H., Matsunami H., Kobayashi W., Suzuki M., Arimura Y., Hori T, Fukagawa T., Ohi M.D., Wolf M.*, Kurumizaka H.* (2020). Cryo-EM Structures of Centromeric Tri-nucleosomes Containing a Central CENP-A Nucleosome. Structure, 28(1), 44-53.e4.
  6. Shibata S., Matsunami H., Aizawa S*., Wolf M.* (2019). Torque transmission mechanism of the curved bacterial flagellar hook revealed by cryo-EM. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 26(10), 941-945.
  7. Meshcheryakov V.A, Shibata S., Schreiber M.T., Villar-Briones, A., Jarrell, K.F., Aizawa, S.* and Wolf M.* (2019). High-resolution archaellum structure reveals a conserved metal binding site. EMBO Reports, 20(5), e46340.
  8. Watson, B.N.J, Easingwood, R.A., Tong, B., Wolf M.., Salmond, G.P.C., Staals, R.H.J., Bostina, M. and Fineran, P.C. (2019). Different genetic and morphological outcomes for phages targeted by single or multiple CRISPR-Cas spacers. Phil. Trans. B, 374(1772), 20180090.
  9. Sugita, Y., Matsunami, H., Kawaoka, Y., Noda T., Wolf M.* (2018). Cryo-EM structure of the Ebola virus nucleoprotein-RNA complex at 3.6 Å resolution. Nature, 563(7729), 137-140.
  10. Jayawardena, N., Burga, L., Easingwood, R., Takizawa, Y., Wolf M.* and Bostina, M.* (2018). Structural basis for Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 recognition by Seneca Valley Virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 115(46), E10934-E10940.
  11. Machida, S., Takizawa, Y., Ishimaru, M., Sugita, Y., Sekine, S., Nakayama, J. ichi, Wolf M.* and Kurumizaka, H.* (2018). Structural Basis of Heterochromatin Formation by Human HP1. Molecular Cell, 69(3), 385–397.e8.
  12. Maigné, A., and Wolf M.* (2018). Low-dose electron energy-loss spectroscopy using electron counting direct detectors. Microscopy (Oxford, UK), 67(suppl_1), i86–i97.
  13. Murata, K.* and Wolf M.* (2018). Cryo-electron microscopy for structural analysis of dynamic biological macromolecules. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1862(2), 324–334.
  14. Takizawa, Y., Tanaka, H., Machida, S., Koyama, M., Maehara, K., Ohkawa, Y., Wade, P.A., Wolf M.* and Kurumizaka, H.* (2018). Cryo-EM structure of the nucleosome containing the ALB1 enhancer DNA sequence. Open Biology, 8(3), 170255.
  15. Matsunami, H., Barker, C.S., Yoon, Y.H., Wolf M., and Samatey, F.A. (2016). Complete structure of the bacterial flagellar hook reveals extensive set of stabilizing interactions. Nature Commun., 7, 13425.
  16. Meshcheryakov, V.A., and Wolf M.* (2016). Crystal structure of the flagellar accessory protein FlaH of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii suggests a regulatory role in archaeal flagellum assembly. Protein Sci., 25(6), 1147–1155.
  17. Sugita, Y., Kawaoka, Y., Noda, T., and Wolf M.* (2016). Structure of the Ebola Virus Nucleocapsid Core by Single Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy. Microsc. Microanal., 22(suppl 3), 66–67.
  18. Meshcheryakov, V.A., Yoon, Y.H., Matsunami, H., and Wolf M.* (2014). Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of the flagellar accessory protein FlaH from the methanogenic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. Acta Crystallogr. Sect. F Structural Biol. Commun., 70(Pt 11), 1543–1545.
  19. Wolf M., Garcea, R.L., Grigorieff, N., and Harrison, S.C. (2010). Subunit interactions in bovine papillomavirus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 107(14), 6298–6303.
  20. Xing, Y., Böcking, T., Wolf M., Grigorieff, N., Kirchhausen, T., and Harrison, S.C. (2010). Structure of clathrin coat with bound Hsc70 and auxilin: Mechanism of Hsc70-facilitated disassembly. EMBO J., 29(3), 655–665.
  21. Wolf M., DeRosier, D.J., and Grigorieff, N. (2006). Ewald sphere correction for single-particle electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 106(4-5), 376–382.
  22. Wolf M., Eberhart, A., Glossmann, H., Striessnig, J., and Grigorieff, N. (2003). Visualization of the domain structure of an L-type Ca2+channel using electron cryo-microscopy. J. Mol. Biol., 332(1), 171–182.
  23. Heinisch, G., Langer, T., Lukavsky, P., and Wolf M. (1996). Lipophilicity Determination of Diazine Analogs of Ridogrel. Part 1. A comparison of different analysis and Prediction Methods. Sci. Pharm., 64, 421–428.