Dr Kate Wegener

Lecturer

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

I work at the interface of chemistry and biology, using structure-guided molecular design to develop therapeutics and diagnostic biosensors for a variety of applications. By investigating how molecules interact with their target, we can rationally improve their chemistry for both function and stability.

My Research
Career
Publications
Grants and Funding
Teaching
Supervision
Professional Activities
Contact

Projects in my laboratory involve the development of both small molecules and peptidomimetics that interact with their biological target with high affinity. As part of multi-disciplinary collaborations, we apply structural techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and crystallography, to examine these molecular interactions at high resolution, and rationally alter ligand chemistry to produce compounds with desirable biochemical and pharmacological properties. Interaction kinetics are quantified using a variety of biophysical techniques such as fluorescence polarization and NMR spectroscopy, as well as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) using our state-of-the-art Biacore S200.

Peptidomimetic projects involve the rational design of peptide-based inhibitors of protein-protein interactions, using chemical modification to stabilise the peptides and improve their pharmacological potential.

Current projects include:

Development of novel antibiotics targeting essential enzymes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Constrained peptidomimetics targeting PCNA – the human DNA sliding clamp – as a novel approach to cancer treatment.
Constrained peptidomimetics as antagonists of nuclear receptor function, for applications in cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.

Appointments

Date	Position	Institution name
2017 - ongoing	ARC Research Fellow	The University of Adelaide
2010 - 2017	Ramsay Fellow	University of Adelaide
2002 - ongoing	Research Associate	University of Oxford

Education

Date Institution name Country Title

1998 - 2002 University of Adelaide Australia PhD

1994 - 1997 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Honours)
Research Interests

Biologically Active Molecules Biomolecular Modelling and Design Characterisation of Biological Macromolecules Medical Biochemistry: Proteins and Peptides

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
1998 - 2002	University of Adelaide	Australia	PhD
1994 - 1997	University of Adelaide	Australia	Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Journals

Year	Citation
2010	Anthis, N., Wegener, K., Critchley, D., & Campbell, I. (2010). Structural diversity in integrin/talin interactions. Structure, 18(12), 1654-1666. DOI Scopus76 WoS71 Europe PMC71
2010	Kalli, A., Wegener, K., Goult, B., Anthis, N., Campbell, I., & Sansom, M. (2010). The structure of the talin/integrin complex at a lipid bilayer: an NMR and MD simulation study. Structure, 18(10), 1280-1288. DOI Scopus55 WoS51 Europe PMC47
2009	Goult, B., Bate, N., Anthis, N., Wegener, K., Gingras, A., Patel, B., . . . Critchley, D. (2009). The structure of an interdomain complex that regulates talin activity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 284(22), 15097-15106. DOI Scopus109 WoS97 Europe PMC90
2009	Anthis, N., Wegener, K., Ye, F., Kim, C., Goult, B., Lowe, E., . . . Campbell, I. (2009). The structure of an integrin/talin complex reveals the basis of inside-out signal transduction. EMBO Journal, 28(22), 3623-3632. DOI Scopus264 WoS251 Europe PMC226
2009	Anthis, N., Haling, J., Oxley, C., Memo, M., Wegener, K., Lim, C., . . . Campbell, I. (2009). β integrin tyrosine phosphorylation is a conserved mechanism for regulating talin-induced integrin activation. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 284(52), 36700-36710. DOI Scopus103 WoS97 Europe PMC83
2008	Wegener, K., Basran, J., Bagshaw, C., Campbell, I., Roberts, G., Critchley, D., & Barsukov, I. (2008). Structural basis for the interaction between the cytoplasmic domain of the hyaluronate receptor layilin and the talin F3 subdomain. Journal of Molecular Biology, 382(1), 112-126. DOI Scopus45 WoS42 Europe PMC34
2008	Wegener, K., & Campbell, I. (2008). Transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains in integrin activation and protein-protein interactions. Molecular Membrane Biology, 25(5), 376-387. DOI Scopus105 WoS92 Europe PMC70
2008	Oxley, C., Anthis, N., Lowe, E., Vakonakis, I., Campbell, I., & Wegener, K. (2008). An integrin phosphorylation switch the effect of β3 integrin tail phosphorylation on dok1 and talin binding. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 283(9), 5420-5426. DOI Scopus94 WoS92 Europe PMC77
2007	Wegener, K. L., Partridge, A. W., Han, J., Pickford, A. R., Liddington, R. C., Ginsberg, M. H., & Campbell, I. D. (2007). Structural Basis of Integrin Activation by Talin. Cell, 128(1), 171-182. DOI Scopus560 WoS520 Europe PMC444
2006	Kiema, T., Lad, Y., Jiang, P., Oxley, C., Baldassarre, M., Wegener, K., . . . Calderwood, D. (2006). The molecular basis of filamin binding to integrins and competition with talin. Molecular Cell, 21(3), 337-347. DOI Scopus347 WoS319 Europe PMC278
2005	de Pereda, J., Wegener, K., Santelli, E., Bate, N., Ginsberg, M., Critchley, D., . . . Liddington, R. (2005). Structural basis for phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinaseType Iγ binding to talin at focal adhesions. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 280(9), 8381-8386. DOI Scopus70 WoS66 Europe PMC59
2003	Brinkworth, C., Carver, J., Wegener, K., Doyle, J., Llewellyn, L., & Bowie, J. (2003). The solution structure of frenatin 3, a neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor from the giant tree frog, Litoria infrafrenata. Biopolymers, 70(3), 424-434. DOI Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC5
2003	Doyle, J., Brinkworth, C., Wegener, K., Carver, J., Llewellyn, L., Olver, I., . . . Tyler, M. (2003). nNOS inhibition, antimicrobial and anticancer activity of the amphibian skin peptide, citropin 1.1 and synthetic modifications. FEBS Journal, 270(6), 1141-1153. DOI Scopus79 WoS66 Europe PMC48
2003	Marcotte, I., Wegener, K., Lam, Y., Chia, C., de Planque, M., Bowie, J., . . . Separovic, F. (2003). Interaction of antimicrobial peptides from Australian amphibians with lipid membranes. Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, 122(1-2), 107-120. DOI Scopus133 WoS128 Europe PMC64
2003	Wegener, K., Carver, J., & Bowie, J. (2003). The solution structures and activity of caerin 1.1 and caerin 1.4 in aqueous trifluoroethanol and dodecylphosphocholine micelles. Biopolymers, 69(1), 42-59. DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC7
2002	Doyle, J., Llewellyn, L., Brinkworth, C., Bowie, J., Wegener, K., Rozek, T., . . . Tyler, M. (2002). Amphibian peptides that inhibit neuronal nitric oxide synthase - The isolation of lesueurin from the skin secretion of the Australian Stony Creek Frog Litoria lesueuri. FEBS Journal, 269(1), 100-109. DOI Scopus55 WoS54 Europe PMC31
2001	Wegener, K., Brinkworth, C., Bowie, J., Wallace, J., & Tyler, M. (2001). Bioactive dahlein peptides from the skin secretions of the Australian aquatic frog Litoria dahlii: sequence determination by electrospray mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 15(18), 1726-1734. DOI Scopus34 WoS32 Europe PMC22
2000	Lambert, S., Seater, J., Wegener, K., Woodhouse, S., Lincoln, S., & Ward, A. (2000). A preparative, spectroscopic and equilibrium study of some phenyl-2-thiazoline fluorophores for aluminium(III) detection. New Journal of Chemistry, 24(7), 541-546. DOI Scopus12 WoS10
2000	Rozek, T., Wegener, K., Bowie, J., Olver, I., Carver, J., Wallace, J., & Tyler, M. (2000). The antibiotic and anticancer active aurein peptides from the Australian Bell Frogs Litoria aurea and Litoria raniformis: The solution structure of aurein 1.2. FEBS Journal, 267(17), 5330-5341. DOI Scopus273 WoS231 Europe PMC151
1999	Bowie, J., Wegener, K., Chia, B., Wabnitz, P., Carver, J., Tyler, M., & Wallace, J. (1999). Host defence antibacterial peptides from skin secretions of Australian amphibians. The relationship between structure and activity. Protein and Peptide Letters, 6(5), 259-269. DOI Scopus40 WoS35
1999	Wegener, K., Wabnitz, P., Carver, J., Bowie, J., Chia, B., Wallace, J., & Tyler, M. (1999). Host defence peptides from the skin glands of the Australian Blue Mountains tree-frog Litoria citropa. European Journal of Biochemistry, 265(2), 627-637. DOI Scopus84 WoS76 Europe PMC45

Channel 7 Children’s Research Fund “Designed Antibiotics Targeting Drug-Resistant and Latent Tuberculosis” ($74,411)

ARC Discovery Grant (DP120100582) (2012) Abell, A.D., Wegener, K.L., Callen, D.F., Ginsberg, M.H. “Defining peptide structure and function: the shape of things to come.”

Kidman Fellowship (2015), The University of Adelaide

Ramsay Fellowship (2009), The University of Adelaide.

Guest lecturer on Peptidomimetics, for the Masters in Biotechnology, Drug Discovery and Development course (2014-), The University of Adelaide.

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2017 - 2021	Co-Supervisor	Determining the molecular basis of beta-cyano-alanine and gamma-glutamyl-beta-cyano-alanine toxin accumulation in Vicia sativa	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Dr Vy Hoang Thao Nguyen
2015 - 2019	Co-Supervisor	Structural and Biophysical Characterisation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Dethiobiotin Synthetase	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Andrew Philip Thompson
2015 - 2020	Co-Supervisor	Biotin Protein Ligase as a Novel Antifungal Drug Target	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Miss Louise Marie Sternicki
2013 - 2018	Co-Supervisor	A Study on Side Chain Linked Peptides, Toward the Development of Talin Inhibitors using B3 Integrin Peptide Analogues	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Miss Kelly Lee Keeling

Committee Memberships

Date Role Committee Institution Country

2014 - ongoing Board Member Adelaide Protein Group - Australia

Date	Role	Committee	Institution	Country
2014 - ongoing	Board Member	Adelaide Protein Group	-	Australia

Memberships

Date	Role	Membership	Country
2015 - ongoing	Member	Australian Peptide Association	Australia
2011 - ongoing	Member	Australian Society for Medical Research	Australia
2010 - ongoing	Member	Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	Australia
2000 - ongoing	Member	Australia and New Zealand Magnetic Resonance Society	-

Editorial Boards

Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country

2012 - ongoing Editor ANZMAGazine - -
Offices Held

Date Office Name Institution Country

2017 - ongoing Treasurer Adelaide Protein Group Australia

2016 - ongoing State representative (SA) Australian Peptide Association Australia

Date	Role	Editorial Board Name	Institution	Country
2012 - ongoing	Editor	ANZMAGazine	-	-

Date	Office Name	Institution	Country
2017 - ongoing	Treasurer	Adelaide Protein Group	Australia
2016 - ongoing	State representative (SA)	Australian Peptide Association	Australia

Position: Lecturer
Phone: 83135455
Email: kate.wegener@adelaide.edu.au
Fax: 83134362
Campus: North Terrace
Building: The Braggs, floor Second Floor
Room: 2.10
Org Unit: Molecular and Biomedical Science

Dr Kate Wegener

Appointments

Education

Research Interests

Journals

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Committee Memberships

Memberships

Editorial Boards

Offices Held

Connect With Me

External Profiles