Original Research Papers

Koubek, J.*, Filbeck, S.*, Kopetschke, S., Schmitt, J., Pfeffer, S.#, Kramer, G.#, Bukau, B.#, 2025. Structural basis for co-translational assembly of homo-oligomeric proteins bioRxiv. 2025.11.12.687954; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.12.687954

Würtz, M.*#, Tonon, G.*, Vermeulen, B.J.A., Zezlina, M., Gao, Q., Neuner, A., Seidl, A., König, M., Harkenthal, M., Eustermann, S., Erhardt, S., Lolicato, F., Schiebel, E., Pfeffer, S.#. 2025. Conserved function of the HAUS6 calponin homology domain in anchoring augmin for microtubule branching. Nat Commun 2025 Aug 22;16(1):7845. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-63165-z.

Helena-Bueno, K.*, Kopetschke, S.*, Filbeck, S., Chan, L.I., Birsan, S., Baslé, A., Hudson, M., Pfeffer, S.#, Hill, C.H.#, Melnikov, S.V.#. Structurally heterogeneous ribosomes cooperate in protein synthesis in bacterial cells. Nat Commun 25 Mar 20;16(1):2751.

Gao, Q.*, Hofer, F.W.*, Filbeck, S.*, Vermeulen, B.J.A.*, Würtz, M., Neuner, A., Kaplan, C., Zezlina, M., Sala, C., Shin, H., Gruss. O.J., Schiebel, E.#, Pfeffer, S.#. Structural mechanisms for centrosomal recruitment and organization of the microtubule nucleator gammaTuRC. Nat Commun 2025 Mar 12;16(1)2453. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-57729-2.

Zheng, A.*, Vermeulen, B.J.A.*, Würtz, M.*, Neuner, A., Lübbehusen, N., Mayer, M.P., Schiebel, E.#, Pfeffer, S.#. Structural insights into the interplay between microtubule polymerases, gamma-tubulin complexes and their receptors. Nat Commun 2025 Jan 5;16(1):402. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-55778-7.

Vermeulen, B.J.A.*, Böhler, A.*, Gao, Q.*, Neuner, A., Zupa, E., Chu, Z., Würtz, M.*, Jäkle, U., Gruss, O.J., Pfeffer, S.#, Schiebel, E.#. gamma-TuRC asymmetry induces local protofilament mismatch at the RanGTP-stimulated microtubule minus end. EMBO J. 2024 May;43(10):2062-2085. doi:10.1038/s44318-024-00087-4.

Groh, C., Haberkant, P., Stein, F., Filbeck, S.*, Pfeffer, S., Savitski, M.M., Boos, F.#, Herrmann, J.M.#. Mitochondial dysfunction rapidly modulates the abundance and thermal stability of cellular proteins. Life Sci Alliance. 2023 Mar 20;6(6):e202201805. doi:10.26508/lsa.202201805.

Zupa, E.*, Würtz, M.*, Neuner, A., Hoffmann, T., Rettel, M., Böhler, A., Vermeulen, B.J.A., Eustermann, S#., Schiebel, E.#, Pfeffer, S.#, 2022. The augmin complex architecture reveals structural insights into microtubule branching. Nat Commun 13, 5635.

Würtz, M.*, Zupa, E.*, Atorino, E.S.*, Neuner, A., Böhler, A., Rahadian, A.S., Vermeulen, B.J.A., Tonon, G., Eustermann, S., Schiebel, E.#, Pfeffer, S.#, 2022. Modular assembly of the principal microtubule nucleator gamma-TuRC. Nat Commun 13, 473.

Cerullo, F.*, Filbeck S.*, Patil, P.R., Hung, H.C., Xu, H., Vornberger, J., Hofer, F.W., Schmitt, J., Kramer, G., Bukau, B., Hofmann, K., Pfeffer, S.#, Joazeiro, C.A.P#, 2022. Bacterial ribosome collision sensing by a MutS DNA repair ATPase paralogue. Nature 603, 509-14.

Waltz, F., Salinas-Giegé, T., Englmeier, R., Meichel, H., Soufari, H., Kuhn, L., Pfeffer, S., Förster, F., Engel, B.D., Giegé, P., Drouard, L., Hashem, Y., 2021. How to build a ribosome from RNA fragments in Chlamydomonas mitochondria. Nat Commun 12, 7176.

Moebel, E., Martinez-Sanchez, A., Lamm, L., Righetto, R.D., Wietrzynski, W., Albert, S., Larivière, D., Fourmentin, E., Pfeffer, S., Ortiz, J., Baumeister, W., Peng, T., Engel, B.D., Kervrann, C., 2021. Deep learning improves macromolecule identification in 3D cellular cryo-electron tomograms. Nat Methods 18: 1386-1394.

Filbeck, S.*, Cerullo, F.*, Paternoga, H., Tsaprailis, G., Joazeiro, C.A.P.°, Pfeffer, S.°, 2020. Mimicry of canonical translation elongation underlies alanine tail synthesis in RQC. Mol Cell, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2020.11.001.

Zupa, E.*, Zheng, A.*, Neuner, A., Würtz, M., Liu, P., Böhler, A., Schiebel, E.°, Pfeffer, S°, 2020. The cryo-EM structure of a gamma-TuSC elucidates architecture and regulation of minimal microtubule nucleation systems. Nat Commun 11, 5705.

McDowell, M.A., Heimes, M., Fiorentino, F., Mehmood, S., Farkas, A., Coy-Vergara, J., Wu, D., Bolla, J.R., Schmid, V., Heinze, R., Wild, K., Flemming, D., Pfeffer, S., Schwappach, B., Robinson, C. V., Sinning, I., 2020. Structural Basis of Tail-Anchored Membrane Protein Biogenesis by the GET Insertase Complex. Mol Cell 80, 72-86.

Zhou, Y., Kastritis, P.L., Dougherty, S.E., Bouvette, J., Hsu, A.L., Burbaum, L., Mosalaganti, S., Pfeffer, S., Hagen, W.J.H., Förster, F., Borgnia, M. J., Vogel, C., Beck, M., Bartesaghi, A., Silva, G. M., 2020. Structural impact of K63 ubiquitin on yeast translocating ribosomes under oxidative stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117, 22157-22166.

Wild, K., Aleksic, M., Lapouge, K., Juaire, K., Flemming, D., Pfeffer, S°, Sinning, I.°, 2020. MetAP-like Ebp1 occupies the human ribosomal tunnel exit and recruits flexible rRNA expansion segments. Nat Commun 11, 776.

Liu, P.*, Zupa, E.*, Neuner, A., Böhler, A., Loerke, J., Flemming, D., Ruppert, T., Rudack, T., Peter, C., Spahn, C., Gruss, O.J., Pfeffer, S.°, Schiebel, E.°, 2019. Insights into the assembly and activation of the microtubule nucleator γ-TuRC. Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1896-6.

Martinez-Sanchez, A., Kochovski, Z., Laugks, U., Meyer Zum Alten Borgloh, J., Chakraborty, S., Pfeffer, S., Baumeister, W., Lu?i?, V., 2020. Template-free detection and classification of membrane-bound complexes in cryo-electron tomograms. Nat Methods, doi: 10.1038/s41592-019-0675-5.

Schaffer, M., Pfeffer, S.*, Mahamid, J.*, Kleindiek, S.*, Laugks, T., Albert, S., Engel, B.D., Rummel, A., Smith, A.J., Baumeister, W., Plitzko, J.M., 2019. A cryo-FIB lift-out technique enables molecular-resolution cryo-ET within native Caenorhabditis elegans tissue. Nat Methods 16, 757-762.

Rast, A., Schaffer, M., Albert, S., Wan, W., Pfeffer, S., Beck, F., Plitzko, J.M., Nickelsen, J., Engel, B.D., 2019. Biogenic regions of cyanobacterial thylakoids form contact sites with the plasma membrane. Nat Plants 5, 436-446.

Delarue, M.*, Brittingham, G.P.*, Pfeffer, S.*, Surovtsev, I.V. , Pinglay, S., Kennedy, K.J., Schaffer, M., Gutierrez, J.I., Sang, D., Poterewicz, G., Chung, J.K., Plitzko, J.M., Groves, J.T., Jacobs-Wagner, C., Engel, B.D., Holt, L.J., 2018. mTORC1 controls phase separation and the biophysical properties of the cytoplasm by tuning crowding. Cell 174, 338-349.

Braunger, K.*, Pfeffer, S.*°, Shrimal, S., Gilmore, R., Berninghausen, O., Mandon, E.C., Becker, T., Förster, F.°, Beckmann, R.°, 2018. Structural basis for coupling protein transport and N-glycosylation at the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum. Science 360, 215-219.

Pfeffer, S., Dudek, J., Schaffer, M., Ng, B., Albert, S., Plitzko, J.M., Baumeister, W., Zimmermann, R., Freeze, H.H., Engel, B.D., Förster, F., 2017. Dissecting the molecular organization of the translocon-associated protein complex. Nat Commun 8, 14516.

Pfeffer, S., Burbaum, L., Unverdorben, P., Pech, M., Chen, Y., Zimmermann, R., Beckmann, R., Förster, F., 2015. Structure of the native Sec61 protein-conducting channel. Nat Commun 6, 8403.

Pfeffer, S.*, Woellhaf, M.W.*, Herrmann, J.M., Förster, F., 2015. Organization of the mitochondrial translation machinery studied in situ by cryoelectron tomography. Nat Commun 6, 6019.

Pfeffer, S.*, Dudek, J.*, Gogala, M., Schorr, S., Linxweiler, J., Lang, S., Becker, T., Beckmann, R., Zimmermann, R., Förster, F., 2014. Structure of the mammalian oligosaccharyl-transferase complex in the native ER protein translocon. Nat Commun 5, 3072.

Pfeffer, S., Brandt, F., Hrabe, T., Lang, S., Eibauer, M., Zimmermann, R., Förster, F., 2012. Structure and 3D Arrangement of Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane-Associated Ribosomes. Structure 20, 1508-1518.

Englmeier, R., Pfeffer, S., and Förster, F., 2017. Structure of the Human Mitochondrial Ribosome Studied In Situ by Cryoelectron Tomography. Structure 25, 1574-1581.

Khoshouei, M.*, Pfeffer, S.*, Baumeister, W., Förster, F., Danev, R., 2016. Subtomogram analysis using the Volta phase plate. J. Struct. Biol. 197, 94-101.

Mahamid, J., Pfeffer, S., Schaffer, M., Villa, E., Danev, R., Cuellar, L.K., Förster, F., Hyman, A.A., Plitzko, J.M., Baumeister, W., 2016. Visualizing the molecular sociology at the HeLa cell nuclear periphery. Science 351, 969-972.

Chen, Y., Pfeffer, S., Hrabe, T., Schuller, J.M., Förster, F., 2013. Fast and Accurate Reference-Free Alignment of Subtomograms. J. Struct. Biol. 182, 235-245.

Chen, Y., Pfeffer, S., Fernandez, J.J., Sorzano, C.O., Förster, F., 2014. Autofocused 3D classification of cryoelectron subtomograms. Structure 22, 1528-1537.

Hrabe, T., Chen, Y., Pfeffer, S., Cuellar, L.K., Mangold, A.V., Förster, F., 2012. PyTom: a python-based toolbox for localization of macromolecules in cryo-electron tomograms and subtomogram analysis. J. Struct. Biol. 178, 177-188.

Review Articles

Hofer, F.W.*, Würtz, M.*, Gao, Q.*, Vermeulen, B.J.A., Schiebel, E.#, Pfeffer, S.#. Dissecting the Structural Organization, Recruitment and Activation Mechanisms of Centrosomal gamma-TuRCs. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken). 2026 Jan;83(1):53-56. doi:10.1002/cm.22040. Epub 2025 May 12.

Gao, Q.*, Vermeulen, B.J.A.*, Würtz, M., Shin, H., Erdogdu, D., Zheng, A., Hofer, F.W., Neuner, A., Pfeffer, S.#, Schiebel, E.#. The structure of the gamma-TuRC at the microtubule minus end - not just one solution. BioEssays. 2024 Sep;46(9):e2400117. doi:10.1002/bies.202400117. Epub 2024 Jul 23.

Filbeck, S.*, Cerullo, F.*, Pfeffer, S.#, Joazeiro, C.A.P.#, 2022. Ribosome-associated quality-control mechanisms from bacteria to humans. Mol Cell 82: 1451-66.

Zupa, E., Liu, P., Würtz, M., Schiebel, E.°, Pfeffer, S.°, 2020. The structure of the gamma-TuRC: a 25-years-old molecular puzzle. Curr Opin Struct Biol 66, 15-21.

Liu, P., Würtz, M., Zupa, E., Pfeffer, S., Schiebel, E., 2020. Microtubule nucleation: The waltz between gamma-tubulin ring complex and associated proteins. Curr Opin Cell Biol 68, 124-131.

Pfeffer, S., Mahamid, J., 2018. Unravelling molecular complexity in structural cell biology. Curr Opin Struct Biol 52, 111-118.

Lang, S., Pfeffer, S., Lee, P.H., Cavalié, A., Helms, V., Förster, F., Zimmermann, R., 2017. An Update on Sec61 Channel Functions, Mechanisms, and Related Diseases. Front Physiol. 8, 887.

Pfeffer, S., Dudek, J., Zimmermann, R., Förster, F., 2016. Organization of the native ribosome-translocon complex at the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Biochim Biophys Acta 10, 2122-2129.

Pfeffer, S., Förster, F., 2016. Sec61: A static framework for membrane-protein insertion. Channels (Austin) 10, 167-169.

Dudek, J., Pfeffer, S., Lee, P.H., Jung, M., Cavalie, A., Helms, V., Förster, F., Zimmermann, R., 2014. Protein Transport into the Human Endoplasmic Reticulum. J. Mol. Biol. 427, 1159-1175.

* equal contribution

° co-corresponding authors

PhD students/postdocs from the Pfeffer lab