Sebastián Klinke holds a PhD degree in Biological Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires (2007) under the supervision of Prof. Fernando Goldbaum, and is Associate Researcher of the Argentinian Research Council (CONICET) at the Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Leloir Institute, Buenos Aires.
His thesis project focused on the structural study of lumazine synthase in the pathogenic bacterium Brucella abortus, applying X-ray crystallography as well as other biophysical and biochemical techniques. Lumazine synthase is an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of riboflavin (vitamin B2), which corresponds to a very promising target for the development of vaccines and antimicrobial compounds against this pathogen. Through his thesis work, the laboratory became a pioneer in Argentina in the application of macromolecular crystallography both in know-how and in instrumentation.
In the last years his projects have been focused on the structural study of several Brucella virulence factors related to the biosynthesis and metabolism of riboflavin, which are interesting antibacterial targets, since Brucella is unable to acquire vitamin B2 from the external environment with efficiency and depends exclusively of its endogenous synthesis. Since 2013, Dr. Klinke is director of the Crystallography Node of the Argentinian Platform for Structural Biology and Metabolomics PLABEM. Within the Platform, the first three-dimensional protein structure obtained entirely in Argentina by X-ray diffraction was solved in 2014.
As general achievements of his career, Dr. Klinke has published 21 articles in international peer-reviewed journals (h-index = 10), with over 90 presentations to congresses and more than 30 protein structures solved to date. Additionally, he holds academic positions in Argentinian and international scientific associations (Vice-president of the Argentinian Association of Crystallography and Member of the Deliberative Council of the Latin American Association of Crystallography, respectively). To finish, he has been recently involved in science outreach projects in Argentina aimed for primary school and high school students, organizing workshops, seminars and competitions related to crystallization and crystal growth with other colleagues throughout the country.
