Date

Friday 05 Dec 2025

Time

15:15 - 15:45

Location

BW031

Supervisor

Sebastian Geibel

2nd reviewer

Steffen Brünle

Jury

Anthe Janssen

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a common oral bacterium that has been linked to the development of certain diseases such as periodontal diseases and colorectal cancer. Therefore, its virulence factors have emerged as an important therapeuHc target. A key mechanism of F. nucleatum’s pathogenesis is the aZachment to host Hssue through adhesins such as CbpF and FvcC, which are both a Type 5c secreHon system. ComputaHonal approaches as a method to develop binders against structurally understood adhesins such as CbpF is underdeveloped, and the precise role and structural informaHon on adhesins such as FvcC is sHll poorly understood. Here we show the computaHonal barriers of pepHde binder design against CbpF. Simultaneously we show an established recombinant expression and purificaHon protocol for FvcC. This protocol was established using an E. coli C43 (DE3) strain and 2YT medium where FvcC was extracted using a detergent, which yielded a stable trimer. FuncHonal assays with HT29 colorectal cancer cells showed that FvcC does not promote host-cell interacHons. These findings not only define the computaHonal barriers inherent to BindCrab for pepHde binder design against complex targets such as CbpF but also provides the groundwork for characterizaHon protocols for FvcC, thereby guiding future efforts towards structural studies and therapeuHcs against F. nucleatum adhesins.