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Scientific interests

Bioinorganic chemistry of antimicrobial peptides, metal ion homeostasis in human pathogens, biological and chemical aspects of neurodegeneration, role of metals on RNA structure and function, understanding biomolecule – metal interactions, thermodynamics and solution structure of metal-biomolecule complexes.

 

Education and Employment

2018 – now - associate professor, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw.

2018 - habilitation (DSc), University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Chemistry.

2011 – 2018 - assistant professor, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw.

1.06.12 – 30.03.15 - post doctoral researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich .(financed by Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (1.10.2013-30.03.2015) and by Sciex (1.06.2012-30.09.2013)).

2011 - PhD in chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Chemistry.

2008 -  2011 - PhD student at the Bioinorganic and Biomedical Chemistry Group, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, under the supervision of Prof. Henryk Kozłowski.

2008 M.Sc. Eng. in biotechnology at Wroclaw University of Technology (WUT), Faculty of Chemistry.

2008 M.Sc. in physics at École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Laboratoire de photonique quantique et moléculaire (LPQM).



48 published papers with a total impact factor of over 200 and four book chapters; Hirsch index 15, cited more than 600 times

More than 30 presentations at international conferences; 19 of them were oral presentations, including a keynote lecture at 18th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC18), and 10 invited lectures at renowned international conferences (such as e.g. ICBIC 2019, ISABC 2019, EUROBIC 2018, PPS 2017, MMC-16 2015 or AsBIC7 2014).

- four invited lectures:

  • 24th Polish Peptide symposium, 3-7.09.2017, Jastrzębia Góra, Poland (‘Peptide-based zincphores as possible targets for novel antifungal strategies’).

  • 60TH PTChem meeting, 17-21.09.2017, Wrocław, Poland (‘Metal ion homeostasis – a tug of war between pathogen and host’).

  • 16th IUPAC International Symposium on MacroMolecular Complexes (MMC-16), 10-14.08.2015, Wrocław, Poland (‘The complicated relationship between metal ions and RNA’).

  • Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry (AsBIC 7) conference, 30.11 – 5.12.2014, Gold Coast, Australia (‘Analogy of metal binding sites in CPEB3 and HDV ribozymes’).

Supervisor of 26 master students and (current) supervisor of 3 outstanding PhD students: Dorota Dudek, Denise Bellotti and Adriana Miller.

 

 

Research grants/awards

  1. Ministry of Science Scholarship for Outstanding Young Researchers, 2015-2018.

  2. National Science Centre SONATA BIS (PI; amount of funding: 450 000 €), 2018-2023.

  3. National Science Centre MAESTRO (main contractor; amount of funding: 880 000 €), 2018-2023.

  4. National Science Centre SONATA (PI; amount of funding: 115 000 €) 2015-2018.

  5. Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, 2013-2015.

  6. Sciex-NMSch Fellowship, 2012–2013.

  7. Award for the best oral presentation at ISABC12, Guangzhou, China, 3-6.12.2013.

  8. Polish Foundation of Science Award for Young Scientist 'START' (twice: in 2012 and 2013).

  9. Member of the Young Academy of Scholars and Artists, in the scope of which science is disseminated to society.

 

 

Scientific experience/training

1. EMBO Paramagnetic NMR summer school, Florence, Italy, 14-19.07.2014.

2. FEBS/EU Practical Training Course 'Chemistry of Metals in Biological Systems', University of Louvain la Neuve, Belgium, 05.2011.

3. Short-term scientific missions, University of Siena, Italy, one to two month stays in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the results showed metal binding sites in the studied peptides.

4. Student intership project in 2 companies: Thermometric AB (TA Instruments, ITC instrments manufacturer) and Inovacia AB (pharmaceutic company); both in Stockholm, Sweden, 07-11.2007, project focused on vaccine adjuvants and their membrane permeability; main technique- calorimetry (ITC).

5. Undergraduate research project in biophysics under the supervision of prof. M. Langner, Wrocław University of Technology, 01.2007- 07.2008, work focused on ITC of biomolecules.

6. Biochemical and biophysical ‘Molecular Nano Biophotonics Summer School’, Porquerolles, France, 06.2007.

7. Student internship at the Institute of Melocular Techniques, Wrocław Medical University, 05.2006 - 06.2006.

List of papers

  • Hecel A.*, Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Kozłowski H., Copper(II)-induced restructuring of ZnuD, a Zinc(II) transporter from Neisseria meningitides, Inorganic Chemistry, 2019, 58, 5932-5942.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Więch A., Wątły J., Wieczorek R., Witkowska D., Ożyhar A., Orłowski M.*, Copper(II)-binding induces a unique polyproline type II helical structure within the ion-binding segment in the intrinsically disordered F-domain of ecdysteroid receptor from Aedes aegypti., Inorganic Chemistry, 2019, 58, 11782-11792.

  • Więch A., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Wątły J., Czarnota A., Hołubowicz R., Szewczuk Z., Ożyhar A., Orłowski M.*, The intrinsically disordered C-terminal F domain of the ecdysteroid receptor from Aedes aegypti exhibits metal ion-binding ability., Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2019, 186, 42-55 

  • Bellotti D., Toniolo M., Dudek D., Mikolajczyk A., Guerrini R., Matera-Witkiewicz A., Remelli M.*, Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Bioinorganic chemistry of calcitermin–the picklock of its antimicrobial activity, Dalton trans., 2019, 48, 13740-13752

  • Wątły J., Hecel A., Wieczorek R., Świątek-Kozłowska J., Kozłowski H., M Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Uncapping the N-terminus of a ubiquitous His-tag peptide enhances its Cu(II) binding affinity, Dalton trans, 2019, 48, 13567-13579

  • Hecel A., Kolkowska P., Krzywoszynska K., Szebesczyk A., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Kozlowski H., Ag+ complexes as potential therapeutic agents in medicine and pharmacy, Curr. Med. Chem., accepted.

  • Remelli M., Guerrini R., Pontecchiani F., Potocki S., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Watly J., Kozlowski H., Zn(II) and Ni(II) complexes with poly-histidyl peptides derived from a snake venom Inorg. Chim. Acta, 2017, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2017.05.070 (invited paper).

  • Wątły J., Hecel A., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Kozlowski H., Impact of histidine spacing on modified polyhistidine tag – metal ion interactions, Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2017, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2017.06.053 (invited paper).

  • Łoboda D., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Candida albicans zincophore and zinc transporter interactions with Zn(II) and Ni(II), Dalton Transactions, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C7DT04403H.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Metal interactions with the transmembrane region of HupE Ni2+ transporter explain its efficiency. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2018, 180, 33-38.

  • Hecel A., Wątły J., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Świątek-Kozłowska J., Kozłowski H., Histidine tracts in human transcription factors: insight into metal ion coordination ability, Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 2018, 23, 81-90.

  • Łodyga-Chruścińska E., Pilo M., Zucca A., Garribba E., Klewicka E., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Symonowicz M., Chruściński L., Cheshchevik V.T., Physicochemical, antioxidant, DNA cleaving properties and antimicrobial activity of fisetin-copper chelates, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2018, 180, 101-118.

  • Łoboda D., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Zn(II) - pramlintide: stability, binding sites and unexpected aggregation, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2017, J Inorg Biochem. 2017, 174, 150-155.

  • Łoboda D., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Zinc binding sites in Pra1, a zincophore from Candida albicans, Dalton Trans, 2017, 46, 13695-13703 (front cover article).

  • Wątły J., Hecel A., Kołkowska P., Kozłowski H., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Poly-Xaa Sequences in Proteins – Biological Role and Interactions with Metal Ions. Chemical and Medical Aspects , Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2017, 24, 1-27.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Periplasmic HupE region-Ni(II) interactions: thermodynamics, binding mode and competition with Cu(II) and Zn(II). (invited paper for a special issue ‘‘Bioinorganic Chemistry – the next generation’), Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2017, 460, 141-147.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Kozłowski H., ‘Nickel binding sites – coordination modes and thermodynamics’ in ‘Biological Inorganic Chemistry of Nickel / ed. by Zamble D., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Kozłowski H., Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017, 4, 43-59.

  • Wątły J., Potocki S., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Zinc homeostasis at the bacteria/host interface—from coordination chemistry to nutritional immunity, Chem. Eur. J., 2016, 22, 15992-16010.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, ‘Coordination of Zn2+ and Cu2+ to the membrane disrupting fragment of amylin’, Dalton Trans., 2016, 45, 8099-8106.

  • Walencik P., Wątły J., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, ‘Fungal zinc homeostasis - a tug of war between the pathogen and host.’, Curr. Med. Chem., 2016, 23, 3717-3729.

  • Kołkowska P., Hecel A., Kędzierska D., Ostrowska M., Walencik P., Wątły J., Zdyb K., Spodzieja M., Rodziewicz-Motowidło S., Potocki S., Łuczkowski M., Gumienna-Kontecka E., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, ‘HENRYK – an endless source of metal coordination surprises’, J. Inorg. Biochem., 2016, 163, 258-265.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Skilandat M., Sigel RKO., ‘NMR insight into structure and metal ion binding sites of the mammalian CPEB3 ribozyme’, RNA journal, 2016, 22, 750-763.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Salerno Milena., Kozłowski H. ‘Neurodegenerative diseases – understanding their molecular bases and progress in the development of potential treatments.’, Coord. Chem. Rev., 2015, 284, 298-312.

  • Lodyga-Chruscinska E., Symonowicz M., Sykula A., Bujacz A., Garribba E., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Oldziej S., Klewicka E., Janicka M., Krolewska K., Cieslak M., Brodowska K., Chruściński L., ‘Chelating ability and biological activity of hesperetin Schiff base.’, J. Inorg. Biochem., 2015, 143, 34-47.

  • Musiari A., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Gallo S., Sigel R.K.O., ‘Metal ions in ribozymes and riboswitches’ in: DNA in supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology / ed. by Eugen Stulz and Guido H. Clever. - Chichester : John Wiley & Sons, 2015, 412-433.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Zakrzewska-Czerwińska J., Zawilak-Pawlik A., Kozłowski H., ‘Ni2+ chemistry in pathogens - a possible target for eradication’, Dalton Trans., 2014, 43, 8976-8989.

  • Pontecchiani F., Simonovsky E., Wieczorek R., Barbosa N.A., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Potocki S., Remelli M., Miller Y., Kozłowski H., ‘The unusual binding mechanism of Cu(II) ions to the poly-histidyl domain of a peptide found in the venom of an African viper’, Dalton Trans., 2014, 43, 16680-16689.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Skilandat M., Sigel R.K.O., ‘Solution structure and metal ion binding sites of the human CPEB3 ribozyme's P4 domain’, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 2014, 19, 903-912.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Skilandat M., Sigel RKO., Hexaamminecobalt(III) – Probing Metal Ion Binding Sites in Nucleic Acids by NMR Z. Anorg. Allg. Chemie, 2013, 639. 1313.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Witkowska D., Potocki S., Remelli M., Kozłowski H. His-rich sequences- is plagiarism from nature a good idea? New J. Chem., 2013, 37, 58-70.

  • Chiera N. M., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Wieczorek R., Guerrini R., Witkowska D., Remelli M., Kozłowski H. Unexpected impact of the number of glutamine residues on metal complex stability. Metallomics, 2013, 5, 214-221.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Potocki S., Witkowska D., Valensin D., Kozłowski H. The zinc-binding fragment of HypA from Helicobacter pylori: a tempting site also for nickel ions. Dalton Trans., 2013, 42, 6012-6020.

  • Kozłowski H., Potocki S., Remelli M., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin D. Specific metal ion binding sites in unstructured regions of proteins. Coord. Chem. Rev., 2013, 257, 2625-2638.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin D., Łuczkowski M., Kozłowski H. Prion disease. in: RSC Metallobiology Series. No. 1 : Mechanisms and metal involvement in neurodegenerative diseases / ed. by Roberta Ward and Robert Crichton, David Dexter. - Cambridge : RSC Publishing, 2013, 118-162.

  • Witkowska D., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin G., Kozłowski H. Specific poly-histidyl and poly-cysteil protein sites involved in Ni2+ homeostasis in Helicobacter pylori. Impact of Bi3+ ions on Ni2+ binding to proteins. Structural and thermodynamic aspects. Coord. Chem. Rev., 2012, 256, 133-148.

  • Witkowska D., Valensin D., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Karafova A., Kamysz W., Kozłowski H. Coordination of Ni2+ and Cu2+ to metal ion binding domains of E.coli SlyD protein. J. Inorg. Biochem., 2012, 107, 73-81.

  • Potocki S., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Witkowska D., Pyrkosz M. J., Szebesczyk A., Krzywoszyńska K., Kozłowski H. Metal transport and homeostasis within the human body : toxicity associated with transport abnormalities. Curr. Med. Chem., 2012, 19, 2738-2759.

  • Witkowska D., Politano R., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Guerrini R., Remelli M., Kozłowski H. The coordination of NiII nad CuII ions to the polyhistidyl motif of Hpn protein: is it as strong as we think?. Chem. Eur. J., 2012, 18, 11088-11099.

  • Pap J. S., Szyrwiel Ł., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Nikitin K., Fritsky I. O., Kozłowski H. An efficient copper(III) catalyst in the four electron reduction of molecular oxygen by L-ascorbic acid. J. Mol. Catal. A: Chem., 2011, 334, 77-82.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Witkowska D., Bielińska S., Kamysz W., Kozłowski H. The -Cys-Cys-motif in Helicobacter pylori's Hpn and HspA proteins is an essential anchoring site for metal jons. Dalton Trans., 2011, 40, 5604-5610.

  • Potocki S., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin D., Krzywoszyńska K., Witkowska D., Łuczkowski M., Kozłowski H. Metal binding ability of cysteine-rich peptide domain of ZIP13 Zn2+ ions transporter. Inorg. Chem., 2011, 50, 6135-6145.

  • Krzywoszyńska K., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Witkowska D., Potocki S., Łuczkowski M., Kozłowski H. Polythiol binding to biologically relevant metal ions. Dalton Trans., 2011, 40, 10434-10439.

  • Kozłowski H., Witkowska D., Rowińska-Żyrek M. Chemia nieorganiczna i medycyna. in: Misja nauk chemicznych / pod red. Bogdana Marcińca. Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, 2011, 141-151.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Witkowska D., Valensin D., Kamysz W., Kozłowski H. The C terminus of HspA–a potential target for native Ni(II) and Bi(III) anti-ulcer drugs. Dalton Trans., 2010, 39, 5814-5826.

  • Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin D., Szyrwiel Ł., Grzonka Z., Kozłowski H. Specific interactions of Bi(III) with the Cys-Xaa-Cys unit of a peptide sequence. Dalton Trans., 2009, 9131-9140.

  • Valensin D., Szyrwiel Ł., Camponeschi F., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Molteni E., Jankowska E., Szymańska A., Gaggelli E., Valensin G., Kozłowski H. Heteronuclear and homonuclear Cu2+ and Zn2+ complexes with multihistidine peptides based on zebrafish prion-like protein. Inorg. Chem., 2009, 48, 7330-7340.

  • Żyrek M., Gumienna-Kontecka E., Szewczuk Z., Fritsky I. O., Kozłowski H. Cu(II)-aminohydroxamate complexes evidenced by mass spectrometry. Arkivoc, 2009, Pt. 3, 145-157.

Book chapters:

1. Gumienna-Kontecka E., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Łuczkowski M.,* The role of trace elements in living organisms.

Recent advances in trace elements, Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons , 2018, 177-206, ISBN 9781119133773.

2. Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Kozłowski H., Nickel binding sites : coordination modes and thermodynamics / The biological chemistry of nickel., Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017, 43-59 , ISBN 978-1-78262-498-1 10.1039/9781788010580-00043.

3. Musiari A., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Gallo S., Sigel R. K. O.*, Metal ions in ribozymes and riboswitches / DNA in supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology., Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 2015, 412-433, ISBN 978-1-118-69686-6, 10.1002/9781118696880.ch5

4. Rowińska-Żyrek M., Valensin D., Łuczkowski M., Kozłowski H.*, Prion disease / RSC Metallobiology Series. No. 1, Mechanisms and metal involvement in neurodegenerative diseases., Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, 118-162, ISBN 978-1-84973-588-9, 10.1039/9781849735896-00118.

5. Kozłowski H., Witkowska D., Rowińska-Żyrek M.*, Chemia nieorganiczna i medycyna / Misja nauk chemicznych., Poznań: Wydawnictwo Nauka i Innowacje, 2011, 141-151, ISBN 978-83-934106-0-6.

 

 

Edited book:

1. Zamble D., Rowińska-Żyrek M., Kozłowski H., The biological chemistry of nickel., Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017, 1-380, ISBN 978-1-78262-498-1, 10.1039/9781788010580.

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