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Photo of Katharina Ribbeck

Katharina Ribbeck

Hyman Career Development Professor
Biological Engineering
MIT
Phone:
+1 617-715-4575
Email:
ribbeck@mit.edu
Website:
Website

Research Focus Areas

Research Interests

The Ribbeck lab’s focus is on basic mechanisms by which mucus barriers exclude, or allow passage of different molecules and pathogens, and the mechanisms pathogens have evolved to penetrate mucus barriers.  It hopes to provide the foundation for a theoretical framework that captures general principles governing selectivity in mucus, and likely other biological hydrogels such as the extracellular matrix, and bacterial biofilms.  The Lab’s work may also be the basis for the reconstitution of synthetic gels that mimic the basic selective properties of biological gels.

Distinguished Awards

2014 Popular Science Brilliant Ten Award
2013 John Kendrew Young Scientist Award

News

Displaying 1 - 11 of 11

ICB Supported Publications

Intelectin-2 is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial lectin

Dugan, A. E., Syangtan, D., Nonnecke, E. B., Chorghade, R. S., Peiffer, A. L., Yao, J. J., Ille-Bunn, J., Sergio, D., Pishchany, G., Dhennezel, C., Vlamakis, H., Bae, S., Johnson, S., Ellis, C., Ghosh, S., Alty, J. W., Barnes, C. E., Krupkin, M., Cárcamo-Oyarce, G., Ribbeck, K., Xavier, R. J., Bevins, C. L., and Kiessling, L. L.
Nature Communications,
10.1038/s41467-025-67099-4

Methods for studying mucin–microbe interactions

Sokolovskaya, O. S., Allen, R., Turner, B. S., and Ribbeck, K.
Methods in Enzymology,
10.1016/bs.mie.2026.05.024

Mucus-derived glycans are inhibitory signals for Salmonella Typhimurium SPI-1-mediated invasion

Wheeler, K. M., Gold, M. A., Stevens, C. A., Tedin, K., Wood, A. M., Uzun, D., Cárcamo-Oyarce, G., Turner, B. S., Fulde, M., Song, J., Kramer, J. R., and Ribbeck, K
Cell Reports,
10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116304

Mussel-inspired cross-linking mechanisms enhance gelation and adhesion of multifunctional mucin-derived hydrogels

Degen, G. D., Stevens, C. A., Cárcamo-Oyarce, G., Song, J., Bej, R., Tang, P., Ribbeck, K., Haag, R., and McKinley, G. H.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA,
10.1073/pnas.2415927122

Selective biofilm inhibition through mucin-inspired engineering of silk glycopolymers

Werlang, C. A., Sahoo, J. K., Cárcamo-Oyarce, G., Stevens, C. A., Uzun, D., Putnik, R., Hasturk, O., Choi, J., Kaplan, D. L., and Ribbeck, K.
Journal of the American Chemical Society,
10.1021/jacs.4c12945

Mucin glycans drive oral microbial community composition and function

Chloe M. Wu, Kelsey M. Wheeler, Gerardo Cárcamo-Oyarce, Kazuhiro Aoki, Abigail McShane, Sujit S. Datta, Jessica L. Mark Welch, Michael Tiemeyer, Ann L. Griffen & Katharina Ribbeck
NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes,
10.1038/s41522-023-00378-4

Comparison of Physicochemical Properties of Native Mucus and Reconstituted Mucin Gels

Wagner CE, Krupkin M, Smith-Dupont KB, Wu CM, Bustos NA, Witten J, Ribbeck K.
Biomacromolecules,
10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01016

Host-derived O-glycans inhibit toxigenic conversion by a virulence-encoding phage in Vibrio cholerae

Benjamin X Wang, Julie Takagi, Abigail McShane, Jin Hwan Park, Kazuhiro Aoki, Catherine Griffin, Jennifer Teschler, Giordan Kitts, Giulietta Minzer, Michael Tiemeyer, Rachel Hevey, Fitnat Yildiz, Katharina Ribbeck
The EMBO Journal,
10.15252/embj.2022111562

Mucin O-glycans are natural inhibitors of Candida albicans pathogenicity

Julie Takagi, Kazuhiro Aoki, Bradley S. Turner, Sabrina Lamont, Sylvain Lehoux, Nicole Kavanaugh, Megha Gulati, Ashley Valle Arevalo, Travis J. Lawrence, Colin Y. Kim, Bhavya Bakshi, Mayumi Ishihara, Clarissa J. Nobile, Richard D. Cummings, Daniel J. Wozniak, Michael Tiemeyer, Rachel Hevey & Katharina Ribbeck
Nature Chemical Biology,
10.1038/s41589-022-01035-1

Mucin O-glycans suppress quorum-sensing pathways and genetic transformation in 21 Streptococcus mutans

Caroline A. Werlang, Wesley G. Chen, Kazuhiro Aoki, Kelsey M. Wheeler, Carly Tymm, Cassidy J. Mileti, Ana C. Burgos, Kris Kim, Michael Tiemeyer & Katharina Ribbeck
Nature Microbiology,
10.1038/s41564-021-00876-1

Mucin Glycans Signal through the Sensor Kinase RetS to Inhibit Virulence-Associated Traits in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Benjamin X. Wang, Kelsey M. Wheeler, Kyle C. Cady, Sylvain Lehoux, Richard D. Cummings, Michael T. Laub, Katharina Ribbeck
Current Biology,
10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.088
Emblems