Albert J.R. Heck

Last updated
Albert J.R. Heck
AlbertHeck.jpg
Born (1964-11-25) November 25, 1964 (age 54)
Goes, The Netherlands
NationalityDutch
OccupationProfessor of Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry
Employer Utrecht University
Known forProteomics, Native Mass Spectrometry

Albert J.R. Heck (born November 25, 1964, in Goes, Netherlands) is a Dutch scientist and professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands in the field of mass spectrometry and proteomics. He was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2017.

Goes City and municipality in Zeeland, Netherlands

Goes is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The town of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.

Netherlands Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands, also commonly known as Holland, is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

Scientist person that studies a science

A scientist is someone who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of interest.

Contents

Biography

Albert Heck studied chemistry at the VU University in Amsterdam, and received his PhD degree from the University of Amsterdam in 1993. After a postdoctoral period at Stanford University in the lab of Richard Zare and Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore) he became a postdoctoral fellow and later lecturer at University of Warwick. In 1998 he accepted a chair at Utrecht University as head of the Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Group. His group is part of the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Faculty of Science. [1] Since 2003 Heck is scientific director of the Netherlands Proteomics Centre. From 2006 until 2012 Heck was scientific director of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research at the Utrecht University. He is a council member of HUPO Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI) and since 2011 coordinator of PRIME-XS, [2] a European collaboration in the field of proteomics. In 2013, Heck received the Discovery Award in Proteomic Sciences from HUPO [3] and since 2014 he is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization. [4] [5] In 2014, Heck was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. [6]

Chemistry is the natural science involved with elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances.

Amsterdam Capital city of the Netherlands and municipality

Amsterdam is the capital city and most populous municipality of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 854,047 within the city proper, 1,357,675 in the urban area and 2,410,960 in the metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country but is not its capital, which is Haarlem. The Amsterdam metropolitan area comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, which has a population of approximately 8.1 million.

Doctor of Philosophy Postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities in many countries

A Doctor of Philosophy is the highest university degree that is conferred after a course of study by universities in most English-speaking countries. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. As an earned research degree, those studying for a PhD are usually required to produce original research that expands the boundaries of knowledge, normally in the form of a thesis or dissertation, and defend their work against experts in the field. The completion of a PhD is often a requirement for employment as a university professor, researcher, or scientist in many fields. Individuals who have earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree may, in many jurisdictions, use the title Doctor or, in non-English-speaking countries, variants such as "Dr. phil." with their name, although the proper etiquette associated with this usage may also be subject to the professional ethics of their own scholarly field, culture, or society. Those who teach at universities or work in academic, educational, or research fields are usually addressed by this title "professionally and socially in a salutation or conversation." Alternatively, holders may use post-nominal letters such as "Ph.D.", "PhD", or "DPhil". It is, however, considered incorrect to use both the title and post-nominals at the same time.

Research

The research of Albert Heck is focussed on the use of mass spectrometry to study proteins. Within his research group, the two main lines of research are proteomics and native mass spectrometry of proteins and protein complexes. In proteomics, he is most renowned for his work on the analysis of post-translational modification of proteins using mass spectrometry, mainly protein phosphorylation [7] and for the development of novel peptide fragmentation strategies to elucidate site specific post-translational modifications. [8]

Post-translational modification covalent and generally enzymatic modification of proteins during or after protein biosynthesis

Post-translational modification (PTM) refers to the covalent and generally enzymatic modification of proteins following protein biosynthesis. Proteins are synthesized by ribosomes translating mRNA into polypeptide chains, which may then undergo PTM to form the mature protein product. PTMs are important components in cell signaling, as for example when prohormones are converted to hormones.

Protein phosphorylation The process of introducing a phosphate group on to a protein.

Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification of proteins in which an amino acid residue is phosphorylated by a protein kinase by the addition of a covalently bound phosphate group. Phosphorylation alters the structural conformation of a protein, causing it to become activated, deactivated, or modifying its function. Approximately 13000 human proteins have sites that are phosphorylated.

His group is among the pioneers of native mass spectrometry to study large protein assemblies and has developed and implemented novel technologies to study protein interactions and the formation of tertiary and quaternary protein structures. [9] Among the complexes that he studied using native mass spectrometry are virus assemblies of up to 18 megadalton [10] and antibodies in complex with other proteins such as their antigens or the complement system. [11]

Antigen molecule capable of inducing an immune response (to produce an antibody) in the host organism

In immunology, antigens (Ag) are structures specifically bound by antibodies (Ab) or a cell surface version of Ab ~ B cell antigen receptor (BCR). The term antigen originally described a structural molecule that binds specifically to an antibody only in the form of native antigen. It was expanded later to refer to any molecule or a linear molecular fragment after processing the native antigen that can be recognized by T-cell receptor (TCR). BCR and TCR are both highly variable antigen receptors diversified by somatic V(D)J recombination. Both T cells and B cells are cellular components of adaptive immunity. The Ag abbreviation stands for an antibody generator.

Complement system part of the immune system that enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promotes inflammation, and attacks the pathogens cell membrane

The complement system is a part of the immune system that enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promotes inflammation, and attacks the pathogen's cell membrane. It is part of the innate immune system, which is not adaptable and does not change during an individual's lifetime. The complement system can, however, be recruited and brought into action by antibodies generated by the adaptive immune system.

Awards and Prizes

Spinoza Prize annual award in the Netherlands

The Spinoza Prize is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher Baruch de Spinoza.

American Chemical Society American scientific society

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has nearly 157,000 members at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related fields. It is the world's largest scientific society by membership. The ACS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. Its headquarters are located in Washington, D.C., and it has a large concentration of staff in Columbus, Ohio.

Frank H. Field American chemist

Frank Henry Field was an American chemist and mass spectrometrist known for his work in the development of chemical ionization.

Related Research Articles

Proteomics study of proteins

Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, with many functions. The term proteomics was coined in 1997, in analogy to genomics, the study of the genome. The word proteome is a portmanteau of protein and genome, and was coined by Marc Wilkins in 1994 while he was a Ph.D. student at Macquarie University. Macquarie University also founded the first dedicated proteomics laboratory in 1995.

Frits van Oostrom Dutch academic

Frits van Oostrom, born in Utrecht, Netherlands, is University Professor for the Humanities at the Utrecht University. In 1999 he was a visiting Professor at Harvard for the Erasmus Chair. From September 2004 to June 2005, he was a fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS). He was awarded the Spinozapremie in 1995. In May, 2005 he became President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for a three-year period. He had been member of the same institution since 1994.

Mass spectrometry is a scientific technique for measuring the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. It is often coupled to chromatographic techniques such as gas- or liquid chromatography and has found widespread adoption in the fields of analytical chemistry and biochemistry where it can be used to identify and characterize small molecules and proteins (proteomics). The large volume of data produced in a typical mass spectrometry experiment requires that computers be used for data storage and processing. Over the years, different manufacturers of mass spectrometers have developed various proprietary data formats for handling such data which makes it difficult for academic scientists to directly manipulate their data. To address this limitation, several open, XML-based data formats have recently been developed by the Trans-Proteomic Pipeline at the Institute for Systems Biology to facilitate data manipulation and innovation in the public sector. These data formats are described here.

Ruedi Aebersold Swiss biologist

Rudolf Aebersold is a Swiss biologist, regarded as a pioneer in the fields of proteomics and systems biology. He has primarily researched techniques for measuring proteins in complex samples, in many cases via mass spectrometry. Ruedi Aebersold is a professor of Systems biology at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology (IMSB) in ETH Zurich. He was one of the founders of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, where he previously had a research group.

Matthias Mann German biochemist and physicist

Matthias Mann is a scientist in the area of mass spectrometry and proteomics. Born in Germany he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Göttingen. He received his Ph.D. in 1988 at Yale University where he worked in the group of John Fenn, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense he became group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. Later he went back to Odense as a professor of bioinformatics. Since 2005 he has been a director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich. In addition, he will also become a principal investigator at the newly founded "Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research" in Copenhagen.

Donald F. Hunt is the University Professor of Chemistry and Pathology at the University of Virginia. He is known for his research in the field of mass spectrometry, he developed electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry. He has received multiple awards for his work including the Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the Thomson Medal from the International Mass Spectrometry Society.

Electron-transfer dissociation

Electron-transfer dissociation (ETD) is a method of fragmenting multiply-charged gaseous macromolecules in a mass spectrometer between the stages of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Similar to electron-capture dissociation, ETD induces fragmentation of large, multiply-charged cations by transferring electrons to them. ETD is used extensively with polymers and biological molecules such as proteins and peptides for sequence analysis. Transferring an electron causes peptide backbone cleavage into c- and z-ions while leaving labile post translational modifications (PTM) intact. The technique only works well for higher charge state peptide or polymer ions (z>2). However, relative to collision-induced dissociation (CID), ETD is advantageous for the fragmentation of longer peptides or even entire proteins. This makes the technique important for top-down proteomics.The method was developed by Hunt and coworkers at the University of Virginia.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906 at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel. The roots of the society were in the American Physiological Society, which had been formed some 20 years earlier.

The Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI) is a working group of Human Proteome Organization. It aims to define data standards for proteomics in order to facilitate data comparison, exchange and verification.

Alexander Alexeyevich Makarov is a Russian physicist who led the team that developed the Orbitrap, a type of mass spectrometer, and received the 2008 American Society for Mass Spectrometry Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award for this development. In November 2013 he was appointed to Professor by Special Appointment of High Resolution Mass Spectrometry at the Department of Chemistry and the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Joshua Coon is a professor of chemistry and biomolecular chemistry and the inaugural holder of the Thomas and Margaret Pyle Chair at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and an affiliate of the Morgridge Institute for Research.

The Netherlands Proteomics Centre (NPC) is a Dutch research center in the field of proteomics. The research is focused on the proteome, the entire set of proteins expressed by a genome, cell, tissue or organism.

Richard Dale Smith is an award-winning chemist and a Battelle Fellow and Chief Scientist within the Biological Sciences Division, as well as the Director of Proteomics Research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Dr. Smith is also Director of the NIH Proteomics Research Resource for Integrative Biology, Principal Investigator for the U. S. Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research Genome Sciences Program's 'Pan-omics' program at PNNL, an adjunct faculty member in the chemistry departments at Washington State University and the University of Utah, and an affiliate faculty member at the University of Idaho and the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University. He is the author or co-author of approximately 1000 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded 51 US patents.

Piet Gros Dutch chemist

Piet Gros is a Dutch chemist and professor biomacromolecular crystallography at Utrecht University. In 2010 he received the NWO Spinoza Prize for the elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of the C3 protein, which plays a central role in the complement system and contributes to innate immunity.

Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research

The Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research is a research institute located at Utrecht University. The Bijvoet Center performs research on the relation between the structure and function of biomolecules, including proteins and lipids, which play a role in biological processes such as regulation, interaction and recognition. The Bijvoet Center houses advanced infrastructures for the analysis of proteins and other biomolecules using NMR, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and mass spectrometry. The institute is named after famous Dutch chemist Johannes Martin Bijvoet, who worked at Utrecht University.

Naomi Ellemers Dutch social and organizational psychologist

Naomi Ellemers is a professor of social psychology and organisations and distinguished professor at Utrecht University since September 2015.

Nico M. M. Nibbering

Nicolaas Martinus Maria Nibbering was a Dutch chemist and mass spectrometrist. He was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Netherlands and a recipient of the Thomson Medal and the Joannes Marcus Marci Award.

Marc Baldus is a physicist and professor of NMR spectroscopy at Utrecht University. He is especially known for his work in the field of structural biology using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy. He applies ssNMR methods to establish structure-function relationships in complex biomolecular systems including membrane and Amyloid proteins. In addition, he develops cellular NMR methods to study large molecular transport and insertion systems in bacteria as well as signal transduction mechanisms in eukaryotic cells.

Marileen Dogterom is a Dutch biophysicist and professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. She published in Science, Cell, and Nature and is notable for her research of the cell cytoskeleton. For this research, she was awarded the 2018 Spinoza Prize.

Frank Sobott, Ph.D. (2000), is a Belgian chemist, who is active in the fields of mass spectrometry and biochemistry; he is a professor of the University of Leeds from February 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Hoogleraren" (in Dutch). Volkskrant. September 5, 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  2. ↑ "Eight million euros for European Network led by Albert Heck". Netherlands Genomics Initiative. March 4, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  3. ↑ "Most important international proteomics award for Albert Heck". Netherlands Genomics Initiative. October 2, 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  4. ↑ "EMBO announces new members for 2013". EMBO. May 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  5. ↑ "Albert Heck en Ineke Braakman verkozen tot EMBO leden" (in Dutch). Utrecht University. May 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  6. ↑ "KNAW kiest zeventien nieuwe leden" (in Dutch). KNAW. May 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  7. ↑ "Moeilijk te vangen fosforgroepen" (in Dutch). Chemisch2Weekblad (C2W) Life Sciences. June 23, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Interview - Albert Heck". SharedProteomics. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  9. ↑ "Awards - 2013 Recipients". HUPO. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  10. ↑ "Grote complexen intact de MS in" (in Dutch). Chemisch2Weekblad (C2W). June 7, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Een moleculaire rattenkoning slaat groot immuunalarm" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. March 15, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.