NPC Valorisation Voucher - Netherlands Proteomics Centre

Interview|Bert Poolman“Building a complete cell is theultimate goal many researchers areafter,” says Bert Poolman, professorof Biochemistry at the University ofGroningen. On the path to this stilldistant goal, he and his researchgroup try to unravel and understanddiverse membrane translocationprocesses, notably transport ofmolecules in and out of cellsand their organelles. One majorcurrent objective is to gain furtherunderstanding of the biogenesisof membrane proteins and theunderlying trafficking mechanisms. | NPC Highlights 16 | November 2012Proteomics greatly helpsin finding the right research pathMembrane proteins are involved in many essential cellularprocesses such as transport of nutrients, sensingof environmental changes, energy transduction andscaffolding of cell structure. Due to their important roles inthese processes, they are also linked to various diseases thatmake them clinically important as potential drug targets. BertPoolman’s research group Membrane Enzymology (part of theGroningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute(GBB) and the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials)has accumulated a great deal of experience in the field ofmembrane translocation processes and membrane proteins ingeneral.Poolman explains: “Our research may generate applicationsfor the drug industry, for example, but our focus is mainlyfundamental; we investigate which molecules are involved intransport and try to unravel how they function. Proteomics hashelped to determine the focus of our research. For example,if via DNA microarrays we find that the expression of hundredsor thousands of genes in a cell have changed in response toa particular stress, then using proteomics we can find outwhat this means at the level of proteins and narrow down thenumber of relevant targets. If you are able to reproduce thesechanges by engineering of the cell, then you really begin tounderstand the mechanisms behind the changes.”Poolman’s team managed to successfully engineer the testorganisms L. lactis, E. coli and S. cerevisiae, which haveproven to be suitable for hosting the production of membraneproteins.NPC Research HotelMany processes in membrane transport still need to be unravelled.“We are not able to change the characteristics of membraneproteins rationally, let alone to adjust the transportmechanisms in a cell,” states Poolman. In his research careerhe hopes to find that more directed interventions in the functioningof a cell — the field of synthetic biology — are possible.The work complements Poolman’s fascination with unexpecteddiscoveries. “I always tell my students and postdocs to stayalert for deviations in measurements and not to stick to prevailingdogmas. This may lead to unexpected breakthroughs.”