Alexander Hoffmann (biologist)

Last updated
Alexander Hoffmann
Alma mater
Known forSystems biology
Scientific career
Institutions
Doctoral advisor Robert G. Roeder
Other academic advisors David Baltimore

Alexander Hoffmann is a German-American biologist. He is the director of the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio) and the Thomas M Asher Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research interest is the development of a predictive understanding of how cellular and molecular networks regulate immune responses. [1]

Contents

Education

Hoffmann gained his BA in Physics and Zoology at Cambridge University in 1988, pursuing research projects under the tutelage of John Gurdon and John Lasky.[ citation needed ] He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University in 1994 under the supervision of Robert G. Roeder. [1] Working with Roeder, Hoffmann identified genes encoding the central transcription factor TFIID, including its DNA binding subunit TATA-box binding subunit. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He also developed the now popular His-tag expression system, [7] which facilitates the purification of recombinant proteins. [8] [9]

Career

Hoffmann pursued postdoctoral research with David Baltimore at MIT starting in 1998, focusing on the transcriptional control of HIV, [1] and then relocating with Baltimore to Caltech in 1998. At Caltech he focused on the transcriptional [10] and signaling functions of the immune response transcription factor NF-kB, discovering its oscillatory control. [11] Collaborating with Andre Levchenko, Hoffmann developed a mathematical model that explained the molecular basis for the complex dynamic control of NF-kB. [12] The paper describing this model is considered foundational for the field of cellular signaling.

Hoffmann established the Signaling Systems Laboratory at UCSD in 2003. A hallmark of his research is the Systems Biology research approach of iterative mathematical modeling and experimental analysis, and how kinetic and dynamic control of molecular processes confer specificity to cellular responses. [13] [14] In 2009, he co-founded the UCSD's Biocircuits Institute with Jeff Hasty and Lev Tsimring. [15]

In 2010, he established the San Diego Center for Systems Biology, being awarded a "Center of Excellence" grant from the National Institutes of Health. [16] In 2013 he took a position at UCLA, and, in 2014, established the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio). [17] He is a speaker of the IBS Biomedical Mathematics Group. [18]

Other roles

Hoffmann served with Pavel Pevzner as co-director of UCSD's Graduate Program in Bioinformatics from 2009 to 2013, overseeing a dramatic expansion and inclusion of systems biology, biomedical informatics and quantitative biology. [19]

Hoffmann has worked to improve equity in educational opportunities. He led educational outreach programs at Caltech (Young Engineering Science Scholars, [20] Freshman Summer Institute [21] ), and served at UCSD on the committee for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and as chair of the Chancellor's Diversity Council, focusing on student and faculty recruitment and retention practices, and institutional change.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Alexander Hoffman". Signaling Systems Laboratory at the University of California Los Angeles. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Horikoshi, M.; Wang, C. K.; Schroeder, S.; Weil, P.A.; Roeder, R.G. (1990). "Cloning of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe TFIID gene reveals a strong conservation of functional domains present in Saccharomyces cerevisiae TFIID". Genes & Development. 4 (7): 1141–1148. doi:10.1101/gad.4.7.1141. PMID   2210373.
  3. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Sinn, E.; Yamamoto, T.; Wang, J.; Roy, A.; Horikoshi, M.; Roeder, R.G. (1990). "Highly conserved core domain and unique N-terminus with presumptive regulatory motifs in a human TATA factor (TFIID)". Nature. 346 (6282): 387–390. doi:10.1038/346387a0. PMID   2374612.
  4. ↑ Gasch, A.; Hoffmann, A.; Horikoshi, M.; Roeder, R.G.; Chua, N.H. (1990). "Arabidopsis thaliana contains two genes for TFIID". Nature. 346 (6282): 390–394. doi:10.1038/346390a0. PMID   2197561.
  5. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Chiang, C.-M.; Oelgeschläger, T.; Burley, S.K.; Nakatani, Y.; Roeder, R.G. (1996). "A histone octamer-like structure within TFIID". Nature. 380 (6572): 356–359. doi:10.1038/380356a0. PMID   8598932.
  6. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Oelgeschläger, T.; Roeder, R.G. (1997). "Considerations of transcriptional control mechanisms: Do TFIID-core promoter complexes recapitulate nucleosome-like functions ?". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 94 (17): 8928–8935. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.17.8928 . PMC   33761 . PMID   9256411.
  7. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Roeder, R.G. (1991). "Purification of his-tagged proteins in non-denaturing conditions suggests a convenient method for protein interaction studies". Nucleic Acids Research. 19 (22): 6337–6338. doi:10.1093/nar/19.22.6337. PMC   329157 . PMID   1956801.
  8. ↑ Nikolov, D.B.; Hu, S.-H.; Lin, J.; Gasch, A.; Hoffmann, A.; Horikoshi, M.; Chua, N.-H.; Roeder, R.G.; Burley, S.K. (1992). "Crystal structure of TFIID TATA-box binding protein". Nature. 360 (6399): 40–46. doi:10.1038/360040a0. PMID   1436073.
  9. ↑ Xie, X.-L.; Kokubo, T.; Cohen, S.; Mirza, U.A.; Hoffmann, A.; Chait, B.T.; Roeder, R.G.; Nakatani, Y.; Burley, S.K. (1996). "Structural similarity between TAFs and the heterotetrameric core of the histone octamer". Nature. 380 (6572): 316–322. doi:10.1038/380316a0. PMID   8598927.
  10. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Leung, T.H.; Baltimore, D. (2003). "Genetic analysis of NF-kB/Rel transcription factors reveals molecular specificities". EMBO J. 22: 5530–9. doi:10.1093/emboj/cdg534. PMC   213788 . PMID   14532125.
  11. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Baltimore, D. (2006). "Circuitry of NF-kB Signaling". Immunological Reviews. 210: 171–186. doi:10.1111/j.0105-2896.2006.00375.x. PMID   16623771.
  12. ↑ Hoffmann, A.; Levchenko, A.; Scott, M.; Baltimore, D. (2002). "The NF-B/IB signaling module: temporal control and selective gene activation". Science. 298 (5596): 1241–1245. doi:10.1126/science.1071914. PMID   12424381.
  13. ↑ Behar, M.; Hoffmann, A. (2010). "Temporal Codes of Intra-Cellular Signals". Current Opinion in Genetics and Development. 20 (6): 684–693. doi:10.1016/j.gde.2010.09.007. PMC   2982931 . PMID   20956081.
  14. ↑ Basak, S.; Behar, M.; Hoffmann, A. (2012). "Lessons from mathematically modeling the NFκB pathway". Immunological Reviews. 246 (1): 221–38. doi:10.1111/j.1600-065X.2011.01092.x. PMC   3343698 . PMID   22435558.
  15. ↑ "Establishment of the BioCircuits Institute (BCI) as an Organized Research Unit at UC San Diego". adminrecords.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "San Diego Center for Systems Biology" . Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "UCLA Sets Up New Quantitative and Computational Biosciences Institute". Genome Web. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Alexander Hoffmann". Biomedical Mathematics Group. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  19. ↑ Hoffmann, Alexander; Pevzner, Pavel; Subramaniam, Shankar. "Graduate Training Program in Bioinformatics" . Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Young Engineering and Science Scholars". Archived from the original on 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  21. ↑ "Programs - Caltech Center for Diversity". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
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