Our groups
Danny Sahtoe Group

Protein Design

Hubrecht Institute
Kép

Our Focus

Protein molecules are nanomachines that orchestrate many cellular processes that are critical to life such as metabolism, the immune response and DNA repair. The molecular structure of proteins determines largely how they function. The Sahtoe lab develops approaches to computationally design synthetic protein molecules with novel structures and functions that are not observed in nature. These designed protein molecules are used to tackle a variety of unresolved biological and biotechnological questions related to epigenetics, allosteric protein regulation and drug delivery. 

About Danny Sahtoe

My Research

Danny Sahtoe performed his PhD research in the lab of Prof. Titia Sixma at the Netherlands Cancer Institute where the studied the atomic 3D structure of protein complexes involved in gene regulation. After his PhD he moved to the computational protein design lab of Prof. David Baker at the Institute of Protein Design in Seattle, USA. Here he developed novel approaches to design synthetic protein-protein interactions resulting in the design of artificial multiprotein complexes, amyloid fibril inhibiting proteins and small proteins for use in blood-brain-barrier traversal. In 2023 he started his own lab at the Hubrecht Institute where he uses protein design approaches to create novel research tools and study fundamental biological processes.

Awards

  • Recipient of a NWO-VIDI grant (2023)

  • Recipient of a Washington Research Foundation Innovation Fellowship (2015)

  • Recipient of a EMBO long term fellowship (2015)

Key Publications

  1. Sahtoe, D.D., Andrzejewska, E.A., Han, H.L. et al. Design of amyloidogenic peptide traps. Nat Chem Biol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01578-5

  2. Sahtoe, D. D.; Coscia, A.; Mustafaoglu, N.; Miller, L. M.; Olal, D.; Vulovic, I.; Yu, T.-Y.; Goreshnik, I.; Lin, Y.-R.; Clark, L.; Busch, F.; Stewart, L.; Wysocki, V. H.; Ingber, D. E.; Abraham, J.; Baker, D. Transferrin Receptor Targeting by de Novo Sheet Extension. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2021, 118 (17), e2021569118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2021569118.

  3. Sahtoe, D. D.; Praetorius, F.; Courbet, A.; Hsia, Y.; Wicky, B. I. M.; Edman, N. I.; Miller, L. M.; Timmermans, B. J. R.; Decarreau, J.; Morris, H. M.; Kang, A.; Bera, A. K.; Baker, D. Reconfigurable Asymmetric Protein Assemblies through Implicit Negative Design. Science 2022, 375 (6578), eabj7662. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj7662.

  4. Sahtoe, D. D.; Andrzejewska, E. A.; Han, H. L.; Rennella, E.; Schneider, M. M.; Meisl, G.; Ahlrichs, M.; Decarreau, J.; Nguyen, H.; Kang, A.; Levine, P.; Lamb, M.; Li, X.; Bera, A. K.; Kay, L. E.; Knowles, T. P. J.; Baker, D. Design of Amyloidogenic Peptide Traps. bioRxiv January 13, 2023, p 2023.01.13.523785. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.13.523785.

  5. Sahtoe, D. D.; van Dijk, W. J.; Ekkebus, R.; Ovaa, H.; Sixma, T. K. BAP1/ASXL1 Recruitment and Activation for H2A Deubiquitination. Nat. Commun.2016, 7 (1), 10292. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10292.

  6. Sahtoe, D. D.; van Dijk, W. J.; El Oualid, F.; Ekkebus, R.; Ovaa, H.; Sixma, T. K. Mechanism of UCH-L5 Activation and Inhibition by DEUBAD Domains in RPN13 and INO80G. Mol. Cell 2015, 57 (5), 887–900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2014.12.039.

Members

Danny Sahtoe
Group Leader		Bastiaan de Potter    
PhD student		Greta Ghirardo    
PhD student
Larissa Baan    
Research Technician		Niels Rinzema    
Dr		Serj Koshian    
Phd student