1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. MPL People
  4. Leonhard Möckl

Prof. Dr. Leonhard Möckl

  • Professorship for Nano-optical Imaging
  • Associated Group Leader
  • Room A.3.428
  • Phone +49 9131 7133115
  • Email
  • Head of research group Physical Glycosciences

Leonhard Möckl studied Chemistry and Biochemistry at LMU Munich. He obtained his PhD in 2015 with a thesis on the role of the glycocalyx in membrane protein organization. In 2016, he joined the lab of W.E. Moerner at Stanford University, where he used single-molecule techniques to investigate the glycocalyx and furthermore developed deep-learning based approaches for single-molecule studies. In 2020, he joined the MPL as an independent group leader. Since 2024, he holds the professorship for Nano-optical Imaging at FAU, located at the newly established CITABLE.

In his free time, he loves to read, to play the piano, to hike, and to play volleyball.

2016

100 Jahre Einkristallzucht aus der Schmelze: Vom Spreeknie ins Silicon Valley

Jürgen Evers, Christiane Herzog, Leonhard Möckl, Christoph von Plotho, Peter Stallhofer, Rudolf Staudigl

Chemie in unserer Zeit 50 (6) 410-419 (2016) | Journal

Im August 1916 reichte der Deutsch‐Pole Jan Czochralski eine Publikation über die Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit von Metallkristallen bei der Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie ein. Daher wird 1916 als das Jahr der Entdeckung des Czochralski‐Kristallzuchtverfahrens angesehen. Im Metall‐Laboratorium der AEG, wo Czochralski zunächst arbeitete, wurden seine Forschungsarbeiten nicht gebührend anerkannt, sodass er zur Metallbank und Metallurgischen Gesellschaft (später: Metallgesellschaft) nach Frankfurt wechselte, wo er bald zum Laborleiter und Oberingenieur aufstieg. In Frankfurt machte er sich mit Forschungen zu Metallen und technischen Legierungen rasch einen Namen. Die Entdeckung des Czochralski‐Kristallzuchtverfahrens gehört zu den wichtigsten technologischen Erfindungen des 20. Jahrhunderts, die aber erst in dessen zweiten Hälfte mit dem Aufstieg der Halbleiterindustrie ökonomische Bedeutung erlangte. Heute werden 95 % der Weltproduktion an Siliciumeinkristallen nach dem Czochralski‐Verfahren hergestellt. Der Umsatz der Halbleiter‐Industrie betrug 2015 etwa 335 Milliarden US‐Dollar, wobei die Kristallzucht nach dem Czochralski‐Verfahren jeweils der erste Schritt bei der Herstellung ist. Der größte Teil der heute gefertigten Siliciumeinkristalle hat einen Durchmesser von 300 mm. Die industrielle Produktion von Einkristallen mit 450 mm Durchmesser scheitert bisher nicht an technologischen, sondern an ökonomischen Problemen.

En route from artificial to natural: Evaluation of inhibitors of mannose-specific adhesion of E. coli under flow

Leonhard Möckl, Claudia Fessele, Guillaume Despras, Christoph Braeuchle, Thisbe K. Lindhorst

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta-General Subjects 1860 (9) 2031-2036 (2016) | Journal

We investigated the properties of six Escherichia coli adhesion inhibitors under static and under flow conditions. On mannan-covered model substrates and under static conditions, all inhibitors were able to almost completely abolish lectin-mediated E. coli adhesion. On a monolayer of living human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1), the inhibitors reduced adhesion under static conditions as well, but a large fraction of bacteria still managed to adhere even at highest inhibitor concentrations. In contrast, under flow conditions E. coli did not exhibit any adhesion to HMEC-1 not even at inhibitor concentrations where significant adhesion was detected under static conditions. This indicates that the presence of shear stress strongly affects inhibitor properties and must be taken into account when evaluating the potency of bacterial adhesion inhibitors. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

En route from artificial to natural: Evaluation of inhibitors of mannose-specific adhesion of E. coli under flow General subjects

Leonhard Möckl, Claudia Fessele, Guillaume Despras, Christoph Bräuchle, Thisbe K. Lindhorst

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects 1860 (9) 2031-2036 (2016) | Journal

We investigated the properties of six Escherichia coli adhesion inhibitors under static and under flow conditions. On mannan-covered model substrates and under static conditions, all inhibitors were able to almost completely abolish lectin-mediated E. coli adhesion. On a monolayer of living human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1), the inhibitors reduced adhesion under static conditions as well, but a large fraction of bacteria still managed to adhere even at highest inhibitor concentrations. In contrast, under flow conditions E. coli did not exhibit any adhesion to HMEC-1 not even at inhibitor concentrations where significant adhesion was detected under static conditions. This indicates that the presence of shear stress strongly affects inhibitor properties and must be taken into account when evaluating the potency of bacterial adhesion inhibitors.

Inside Cover: Artificial Formation and Tuning of Glycoprotein Networks on Live Cell Membranes: A Single‐Molecule Tracking Study (ChemPhysChem 6/2016)

Leonhard Möckl, Thisbe K. Lindhorst, Christoph Bräuchle

ChemPhysChem 17 (6) 779-779 (2016) | Journal

The trajectories of membrane proteins, which are artificially interconnected by biotin and streptavidin, are reminiscent of the work of action painters. This provided the inspiration to think of the different membrane biotin concentrations as colors that can be used to paint various networks onto cells by using the streptavidin brush. More information can be found in the Full Paper by C. Bräuchle et al. on page 829 in Issue 6, 2016 (DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201500809)

Artificial Formation and Tuning of Glycoprotein Networks on Live Cell Membranes: A Single-Molecule Tracking Study

Leonhard Möckl, Thisbe K. Lindhorst, Christoph Braeuchle

ChemPhysChem 17 (6) 829-835 (2016) | Journal

We present a method to artificially induce network formation of membrane glycoproteins and show the precise tuning of their interconnection on living cells. For this, membrane glycans are first metabolically labeled with azido sugars and then tagged with biotin by copper-free click chemistry. Finally, these biotin-tagged membrane proteins are interconnected with streptavidin (SA) to form an artificial protein network in analogy to a lectin-induced lattice. The degree of network formation can be controlled by the concentration of SA, its valency, and the concentration of biotin on membrane proteins. This was verified by investigation of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the SA-protein networks employing single-molecule tracking. It was also proven that this network formation strongly influences the biologically relevant process of endocytosis as it is known from natural lattices on the cell surface.

Switching first contact: photocontrol of E. coli adhesion to human cells

Leonhard Möckl, A. Mueller, C. Braeuchle, T. K. Lindhorst

Chemical Communications 52 (6) 1254-1257 (2016) | Journal | PDF

We have shown previously that carbohydrate-specific bacterial adhesion to a non-physiological surface can be photocontrolled by reversible E/Z isomerisation using azobenzene-functionalised sugars. Here, this approach is applied to the surface of human cells. We show not only that bacterial adhesion to the azobenzene glycoside-modified cell surface is higher in the E than in the Z state, but add data about the specific modulation of the effect.

Here you can download Leonhard's CV.

MPL Research Centers and Schools

© Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

Data Collection

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

Get more info about used cookies
Cookie optin by Olli machts