Michael Niederweis

Michael Niederweis

Michael Niederweis (born 1964) is a German-American scientist, inventor, and academic. He is a university professor and the Triton Endowed Professor of Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.[1] Niederweis is known for his research on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

His research on the discovery and characterization of the Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA)[mn 1][mn 2] was the basis for a DNA sequencing technology known as nanopore sequencing.[mn 3]

Early life

Niederweis was born and raised in Germany. He graduated with a diploma in chemistry from the Saarland University and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.[2][mn 4]

Academic career

Niederweis established his own laboratory at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1997. In 2004, he moved to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).[3]

His research is focused on the discovery and characterization of mycobacterial outer membrane proteins.[mn 5] He has published several papers including identification of biochemical and structural characterization of the first mycobacterial porin (MspA).[mn 6] The visualization of a double membrane in mycobacteria by cryo-electron microscopy reshaped the understanding of drug resistance and pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis.[mn 7] Further discoveries include novel siderophore secretion and heme uptake systems of M. tuberculosis.[mn 8][mn 9]

Niederweis and his team also identified the Tuberculosis Necrotizing Toxin (TNT), the first toxin shown to be produced by M. tuberculosis. His research involved how the pathogen kills host cells and survives within the human body.[4]

The Niederweis laboratory at UAB has contributed to advancing the molecular understanding of tuberculosis.[5][6]

His discovery of the MspA nanopore led to 25 patents issued in the United States and internationally.[7]

Honors and recognition

Niederweis is both a fellow and a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.[8][9] He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.[10][11]

In 2001, he was awarded the Young Professor Award by the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (Dechema). In 2003, he received the Young Investigator Award from the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology.

Niederweis was appointed Endowed Professor of Bacteriology at UAB in 2017. In 2022, he was awarded the Triton Endowment established by UAB.[12] His technologies were recognized by Nature Methods as the "method of the year" in long-read sequencing.[13] In 2024, he was appointed as a UAB University Professor.[14]

Selected works

Niederweis' work has been published in more than 130 research articles in prominent journals, including:

  • Niederweis, M., Ehrt, S., Heinz, C., Klöcker, U., Swiderek, K. M., Riley, L. W. and Benz, R.* (1999) Cloning of the mspA gene encoding the porin from Mycobacterium smegmatis Mol. Microbiol. 33, 933-945 (PMID 10476028)[mn 10]
  • Faller, M., Niederweis, M. and Schulz, G. E.* (2004) The structure of a mycobacterial outer membrane channel. Science 303, 1189-1192 (PMID 14976314)[mn 6]
  • Hoffmann, C., Leis, L., Niederweis, M., Plitzko, J. M. and Engelhardt, H.* (2008) Disclosure of the mycobacterial outer membrane: Cryo-electron tomography and vitreous sections reveal the lipid bilayer structure. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 3963-3967 (PMID 18316738; PMCID:PMC2268800)[mn 7]
  • Butler, T. Z., M. Pavlenok, I. M. Derrington, M. Niederweis* and J. H. Gundlach* (2008) Single-Molecule DNA detection with an engineered MspA protein nanopore. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 20647-20652 (PMID 19098105;PMCID:PMC2634888)[mn 11]
  • Derrington, I. M., T. Z. Butler, M. D. Collins, E. Manrao, M. Pavlenok, M. Niederweis and J. H. Gundlach* (2010) Nanopore DNA sequencing with MspA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 16060-16065 (PMID 20798343; PMCID:PMC2941267)[mn 3]
  • Manrao, E. A., Derrington, I. M., Laszlo, A. H., Langford, K. W., Hopper, M. K., Gillgren, N., Pavlenok, M., Niederweis, M. and Gundlach, J. H.* (2012) Reading DNA with the MspA nanopore and a motor enzyme. Nat. Biotechnol. 30, 349-53 (PMID 22446694; PMCID: PMC3757088)[mn 12]
  • Wells, R. M., C. M. Jones, Z. Xi, A. Speer, O. Danilchanka, K. S. Doornbos, P. Sun, F. Wu, C. Tian and M. Niederweis* (2013) Discovery of a siderophore export system essential for virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PLoS Pathogens 9, e1003120 (PMID 23431276, PMCID: PMC3561183)[mn 13]
  • Jones, C. M., R. M. Wells, A. V. R. Madduri, M. B. Renfrow, C. Ratledge, D. B. Moody and M. Niederweis* (2014) Self-poisoning of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by interrupting siderophore recycling Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111, 1945-50[mn 14]
  • Sun, J., Siroy, A., Lokareddy, R. K., Speer, A., Doornbos, K. S., Cingolani, G.*, and Niederweis, M.* (2015) The Tuberculosis Necrotizing Toxin kills macrophages by hydrolyzing NAD. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 22, 672-678 (PMID: 26237511)[mn 15][15][4]
  • Pajuelo, D., González-Juarbe, N., Tak, U., Sun, J., Orihuela, C. J. and Niederweis, M.* (2018) NAD+ depletion triggers macrophage necroptosis, a cell death pathway exploited by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cell Reports 24, 429-440 (PMID: 29996103)[mn 16][16][17][18]
  • Mitra, A., Ko, Y.-H., Cingolani, G.* and Niederweis, M.* (2019) Heme and hemoglobin utilization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Nat. Commun. 10, 4260 (PMID: 31534126)[mn 17]
  • Tak, U., Dokland, T. and Niederweis, M.* (2021) Pore-forming Esx proteins mediate toxin secretion by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Nat. Commun. 12, 394 (PMID 33452244)[mn 18][19][18][20][21]
  • Pajuelo, D., Tak, U., Zhang, L., Danilchanka, O., Tischler, A.D. and Niederweis, M.* (2021) Toxin secretion and trafficking by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Nat. Commun. 12, 6592. (PMID 34782620)[mn 19][22][23]
  • Meikle, V, Zhang, L. and Niederweis, M.* (2023) Intricate link between siderophore secretion and drug efflux in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 67, e0162922 (PMID 37676015)[mn 20]
  • Earp, J. C., Garaeva, A. A., Meikle, V., Niederweis, M.*, and Seeger, M. A.* 2025) Structural basis of siderophore export and drug efflux by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nat. Commun. 16, 1934 (PMID 39994240)[mn 21][24]
  • Nair, R.R., Meikle, V., Dubey, S., Pavlenok, M. and Niederweis, M.*(2025) Master control of protein secretion by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nat. Commun., in press[mn 22]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Niederweis Scholars Profile". scholars.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
  2. ↑ "Discovery". scholars.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  3. ↑ "UASOM Faculty Profiles". apps.medicine.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  4. 1 2 "Novel toxin, and the first ever found, for deadly pathogen M. tuberculosis". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  5. ↑ LABline (2022-05-18). "Tuberculosis bacteria gene essential for siderophore secretion and virulence". Medical Laboratory Observer. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  6. ↑ "UAB researchers pioneer breakthroughs in TB research - Heersink School of Medicine News". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  7. ↑ "Michael Niederweis Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  8. ↑ "Search for Senior Members". NAI. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  9. ↑ "Fellows". NAI. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  10. ↑ "ASM Directory Search Results". myasm.asm.org. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  11. ↑ Sinclair, Kristina (2018-01-08). "Niederweis elected to fellowship in the AAM - Microbiology". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  12. ↑ "Extraordinary Gift, Extraordinary Year - Heersink School of Medicine News". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  13. ↑ "Two UAB Professors Named National Academy of Inventors Fellows". www.birminghammedicalnews.com. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  14. ↑ "11 faculty elevated to Distinguished, University professorships". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  15. ↑ Tak, Uday (2020-01-01). "Toxin Secretion By Mycobacterium Tuberculosis". All ETDs from UAB.
  16. ↑ "How Mycobacterium tuberculosis escapes death in macrophages". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  17. ↑ "Potential therapeutic target found to combat tuberculosis, a disrupted NAD(H) homeostasis". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  18. 1 2 Lin, Yu-Ting. "Featured Discovery - Immunology Institute". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  19. ↑ "Microbiology and infectious diseases". Nature. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  20. ↑ "News - Microbiology". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  21. ↑ "The tuberculosis pathogen releases its toxin by a novel protein transport system". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  22. ↑ "How the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretes and trafficks its only known exotoxin". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  23. ↑ Birmingham, University of Alabama at. "How the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretes and traffics its only known exotoxin". phys.org. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  24. ↑ "Molecular structure determined for efflux pumps that confer tuberculosis bedaquiline resistance". www.uab.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-20.

Primary sources

  1. ↑ Jackson, Mary; Stevens, Casey M.; Zhang, Lei; Zgurskaya, Helen I.; Niederweis, Michael (2021-05-12). "Transporters Involved in the Biogenesis and Functionalization of the Mycobacterial Cell Envelope". Chemical Reviews. 121 (9): 5124–5157. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00869. ISSN 1520-6890. PMC 8107195. PMID 33170669.
  2. ↑ Faller, Michael; Niederweis, Michael; Schulz, Georg E. (2004-02-20). "About". Science. 303 (5661): 1189–1192. doi:10.1126/science.1094114. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 14976314.
  3. 1 2 Derrington, Ian M.; Butler, Tom Z.; Collins, Marcus D.; Manrao, Elizabeth; Pavlenok, Mikhail; Niederweis, Michael; Gundlach, Jens H. (2010-09-14). "Nanopore DNA sequencing with MspA". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (37): 16060–16065. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10716060D. doi:10.1073/pnas.1001831107. ISSN 1091-6490. PMC 2941267. PMID 20798343.
  4. ↑ "CV Michael-Niederweis" (PDF). National Veterinary Academy, Uraguay.
  5. ↑ Niederweis, Michael; Danilchanka, Olga; Huff, Jason; Hoffmann, Christian; Engelhardt, Harald (2010-03-01). "Mycobacterial outer membranes: in search of proteins". Trends in Microbiology. 18 (3): 109–116. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2009.12.005. ISSN 0966-842X. PMC 2931330. PMID 20060722.
  6. 1 2 Faller, Michael; Niederweis, Michael; Schulz, Georg E. (2004-02-20). "The structure of a mycobacterial outer-membrane channel". Science. 303 (5661): 1189–1192. Bibcode:2004Sci...303.1189F. doi:10.1126/science.1094114. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 14976314.
  7. 1 2 Hoffmann, Christian; Leis, Andrew; Niederweis, Michael; Plitzko, Jürgen M.; Engelhardt, Harald (2008-03-11). "Disclosure of the mycobacterial outer membrane: cryo-electron tomography and vitreous sections reveal the lipid bilayer structure". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (10): 3963–3967. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.3963H. doi:10.1073/pnas.0709530105. ISSN 1091-6490. PMC 2268800. PMID 18316738.
  8. ↑ Wells, Ryan M.; Jones, Christopher M.; Xi, Zhaoyong; Speer, Alexander; Danilchanka, Olga; Doornbos, Kathryn S.; Sun, Peibei; Wu, Fangming; Tian, Changlin; Niederweis, Michael (2013-01-31). "Discovery of a Siderophore Export System Essential for Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis". PLOS Pathogens. 9 (1) e1003120. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003120. ISSN 1553-7374. PMC 3561183. PMID 23431276.
  9. ↑ Mitra, Avishek; Ko, Ying-Hui; Cingolani, Gino; Niederweis, Michael (2019-09-18). "Heme and hemoglobin utilization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 4260. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.4260M. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12109-5. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6751184. PMID 31534126.
  10. ↑ Niederweis, Michael; Ehrt, Sabine; Heinz, Christian; Klöcker, Uta; Karosi, Stefanie; Swiderek, Kristine M.; Riley, Lee W.; Benz, Roland (1999). "Cloning of the mspA gene encoding a porin from Mycobacterium smegmatis". Molecular Microbiology. 33 (5): 933–945. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.1999.01472.x. ISSN 1365-2958. PMID 10476028.
  11. ↑ Butler, Tom Z.; Pavlenok, Mikhail; Derrington, Ian M.; Niederweis, Michael; Gundlach, Jens H. (2008-12-30). "Single-molecule DNA detection with an engineered MspA protein nanopore". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (52): 20647–20652. Bibcode:2008PNAS..10520647B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0807514106. ISSN 1091-6490. PMC 2634888. PMID 19098105.
  12. ↑ Manrao, Elizabeth A.; Derrington, Ian M.; Laszlo, Andrew H.; Langford, Kyle W.; Hopper, Matthew K.; Gillgren, Nathaniel; Pavlenok, Mikhail; Niederweis, Michael; Gundlach, Jens H. (2012-03-25). "Reading DNA at single-nucleotide resolution with a mutant MspA nanopore and phi29 DNA polymerase". Nature Biotechnology. 30 (4): 349–353. Bibcode:2012NatBi..30..349M. doi:10.1038/nbt.2171. ISSN 1546-1696. PMC 3757088. PMID 22446694.
  13. ↑ Wells, Ryan M.; Jones, Christopher M.; Xi, Zhaoyong; Speer, Alexander; Danilchanka, Olga; Doornbos, Kathryn S.; Sun, Peibei; Wu, Fangming; Tian, Changlin; Niederweis, Michael (January 2013). Bishai, William R. (ed.). "Discovery of a Siderophore Export System Essential for Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis". PLOS Pathogens. 9 (1) e1003120. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003120. ISSN 1553-7374. PMC 3561183. PMID 23431276.
  14. ↑ Jones, Christopher M.; Wells, Ryan M.; Madduri, Ashoka V. R.; Renfrow, Matthew B.; Ratledge, Colin; Moody, D. Branch; Niederweis, Michael (2014-02-04). "Self-poisoning of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by interrupting siderophore recycling". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (5): 1945–1950. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.1945J. doi:10.1073/pnas.1311402111. PMC 3918798. PMID 24497493.
  15. ↑ Sun, Jim; Siroy, Axel; Lokareddy, Ravi K.; Speer, Alexander; Doornbos, Kathryn S.; Cingolani, Gino; Niederweis, Michael (September 2015). "The tuberculosis necrotizing toxin kills macrophages by hydrolyzing NAD". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 22 (9): 672–678. doi:10.1038/nsmb.3064. ISSN 1545-9985. PMC 4560639. PMID 26237511.
  16. ↑ Pajuelo, David; Gonzalez-Juarbe, Norberto; Tak, Uday; Sun, Jim; Orihuela, Carlos J.; Niederweis, Michael (2018-07-10). "NAD+ Depletion Triggers Macrophage Necroptosis, a Cell Death Pathway Exploited by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Cell Reports. 24 (2): 429–440. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.06.042. ISSN 2211-1247. PMC 6136256. PMID 29996103.
  17. ↑ Mitra, Avishek; Ko, Ying-Hui; Cingolani, Gino; Niederweis, Michael (2019-09-18). "Heme and hemoglobin utilization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 4260. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.4260M. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12109-5. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6751184. PMID 31534126.
  18. ↑ Tak, Uday; Dokland, Terje; Niederweis, Michael (2021-01-15). "Pore-forming Esx proteins mediate toxin secretion by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 394. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12..394T. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20533-1. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7810871. PMID 33452244.
  19. ↑ Pajuelo, David; Tak, Uday; Zhang, Lei; Danilchanka, Olga; Tischler, Anna D.; Niederweis, Michael (2021-11-15). "Toxin secretion and trafficking by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 6592. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.6592P. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26925-1. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 8593097. PMID 34782620.
  20. ↑ Meikle, Virginia; Zhang, Lei; Niederweis, Michael (2023-09-07). "Intricate link between siderophore secretion and drug efflux in Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 67 (10): e01629–22. doi:10.1128/aac.01629-22. PMC 10583673. PMID 37676015.
  21. ↑ Earp, Jennifer C.; Garaeva, Alisa A.; Meikle, Virginia; Niederweis, Michael; Seeger, Markus A. (2025-02-24). "Structural basis of siderophore export and drug efflux by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Nature Communications. 16 (1): 1934. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-56888-6. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 11850643. PMID 39994240.
  22. ↑ Nair, Rashmi Ravindran; Meikle, Virginia; Dubey, Swati; Pavlenok, Mikhail; Niederweis, Michael (2025-03-13). "Master control of protein secretion by Mycobacterium tuberculosis". bioRxiv 10.1101/2025.03.13.643117.
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