Matthias Hentze

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Matthias Hentze
M Hentze 1.jpg
Born (1960-01-25) 25 January 1960 (age 64)
Wiedenbrück, Germany [1]
Alma mater Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Scientific career
Fields Molecular Biology, RNA-binding proteins
Institutions
Thesis "Influence of amino acid analogs on maturation, transport and stability of cathepsin D in human skin fibroblasts" (1984)
Website www.embl.de

Matthias Werner Hentze (born 25 January 1960 in Wiedenbrück, Germany) is a German scientist. He is the director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), [4] co-director of the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit between EMBL and Heidelberg University, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at Heidelberg University. [5]

Contents

Biography

Matthias Hentze studied medicine in the UK at the medical schools at the universities of Southampton, Oxford, Glasgow and Cambridge, and in Germany at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster from which he qualified in 1984. [1] In the same year, he received his M.D. degree for a dissertation on the role of glycosylation in lysosomal enzyme expression with Kurt von Figura as his advisor. [1] [6]

After a short phase of clinical work Hentze became a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland, USA) in 1985, having been awarded a fellowship by the German Research Foundation (DFG). [1] [ better source needed ] In 1989, he joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg as an independent group leader. At the age of 30, he obtained the Habilitation from the Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg and was appointed Dean of the EMBL International Ph.D. Programme in 1996. [1]

Together with Andreas Kulozik of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, Hentze co-founded the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU) in 2002 [7] [8] and serves as its co-director. [1] The MMPU represents the first institutional partnership between EMBL and a national research institution and is devoted to interdisciplinary research at the interface between molecular biology and clinical medicine.

In 2005, Hentze became Associate Director of the EMBL and Professor for Molecular Medicine at the University of Heidelberg. [1] In 2013, Hentze was appointed Director of EMBL, advising and supporting EMBL's Director General, Prof. Edith Heard. [4]

Work

Research

Hentze's research focuses on RNA biology and RNA-binding proteins. In 1987, Hentze and his colleagues discovered iron-responsive elements as first example of an RNA element regulating the translation of mammalian mRNA into proteins. [9] Hentze's research group has paved the way for understanding translational control (RNA-binding proteins, microRNAs) whose significance for developmental biology, brain function, carcinogenesis and other diseases has in the meantime become widely recognized. [10] Moreover, he has made key discoveries in the area of iron metabolism and disease. [11]

In 2010, Hentze proposed the concept of REM Networks, a new interconnection between metabolism and gene expression on the basis of RNA-binding proteins. [12] The research project was awarded the ERC Advanced Investigator Grant by the European Research Council in 2011. [13] Work following this hypothesis led to the development of the "RNA Interactome Capture" technique and to the discovery of hundreds of formerly unknown RNA-binding proteins in the cells of living organisms from human to yeast, including more than 50 metabolic enzymes. [14] [15] [16] Hentze and his colleagues also discovered new RNA-binding motives of proteins which they unraveled using the newly developed method called "RBDmap". [17]

In 2019, they described the concept of riboregulation. They found out that the autophagy receptor protein p62 is directly regulated by a small RNA, vtRNA1-1, and that the small RNA directly interferes with protein-protein interactions between p62 monomers. [18] They reported a new form of riboregulation in 2022: RNA binds to the catalytic center of the human enzyme enolase-1 and inhibits its glycolytic activity. [19] Currently, their research focuses on how widely biological processes are riboregulated, and how riboregulation determines cell metabolism, differentiation and malignant processes.

Administrative activities

Since 1996, Hentze has held positions in EMBL's scientific administration, initially as Dean of the EMBL International PhD Programme [20] and in the establishment and expansion of EMBL's internal and external training programs. He played a key role in the construction and establishment of the Advanced Training Centre (ATC) in Heidelberg. [21] He is also responsible for developing EMBL's fundraising programs as well as the alumni program, and established EMBL's first Bioethics Committee, which he chaired from 2004 to 2020. [1]

Hentze founded the Environmental Research Initiative (ERI) in 2020. [22] Focused on globally networked, interdisciplinary research in the life sciences, ERI connects the commitment of private donors with the scientific potential of researchers at EMBL to uncover new approaches to solve environmental problems.

Honors and awards

Editorial boards

Hentze serves or served on the editorial boards of Molecular Cell, RNA, [42] EMBO Molecular Medicine, [43] Trends in Biochemical Sciences, [44] Journal of Molecular Medicine, [45] BMC Molecular Biology, [46] and Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: RNA. [47]

Other activities

Hentze is or was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Trustees of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine [48] (Berlin, Germany), the scientific advisory board of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH/BIG), [49] the Istituto Nazionale Genetica Molecolare (INGM), Milan, Italy, [50] the Centenary Institute, Sydney, Australia, [51] the KAUST Smart Health Initiative, and the Cold Spring Harbor Conferences Asia. [52] Furthermore, Hentze is the scientific co-founder of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, USA. [53]

Publications

Hentze is (co-)author of textbooks about Molecular Medicine and has published over 300 scientific original contributions. [1]

Related Research Articles

Polyadenylation is the addition of a poly(A) tail to an RNA transcript, typically a messenger RNA (mRNA). The poly(A) tail consists of multiple adenosine monophosphates; in other words, it is a stretch of RNA that has only adenine bases. In eukaryotes, polyadenylation is part of the process that produces mature mRNA for translation. In many bacteria, the poly(A) tail promotes degradation of the mRNA. It, therefore, forms part of the larger process of gene expression.

Patrick Cramer is a German chemist, structural biologist, and molecular systems biologist. In 2020, he was honoured to be an international member of the National Academy of Sciences. He became president of the Max Planck Society in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron response element</span>

In molecular biology, the iron response element or iron-responsive element (IRE) is a short conserved stem-loop which is bound by iron response proteins. The IRE is found in UTRs of various mRNAs whose products are involved in iron metabolism. For example, the mRNA of ferritin contains one IRE in its 5' UTR. When iron concentration is low, IRPs bind the IRE in the ferritin mRNA and cause reduced translation rates. In contrast, binding to multiple IREs in the 3' UTR of the transferrin receptor leads to increased mRNA stability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron-responsive element-binding protein</span> Protein family

The iron-responsive element-binding proteins, also known as IRE-BP, IRBP, IRP and IFR , bind to iron-responsive elements (IREs) in the regulation of human iron metabolism.

oskar is a gene required for the development of the Drosophila embryo. It defines the posterior pole during early embryogenesis. Its two isoforms, short and long, play different roles in Drosophila embryonic development. oskar was named after the main character from the Günter Grass novel The Tin Drum, who refuses to grow up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPF2</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Regulator of nonsense transcripts 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the UPF2 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obscurin</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Obscurin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the OBSCN gene. Obscurin belongs to the family of giant sarcomeric signaling proteins that includes titin and nebulin. Obscurin is expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle, and plays a role in the organization of myofibrils during sarcomere assembly. A mutation in the OBSCN gene has been associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and altered obscurin protein properties have been associated with other muscle diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FASTK</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Fas-activated serine/threonine kinase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FASTK gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SNAPC2</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

snRNA-activating protein complex subunit 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SNAPC2 gene.

mRNA surveillance mechanisms are pathways utilized by organisms to ensure fidelity and quality of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules. There are a number of surveillance mechanisms present within cells. These mechanisms function at various steps of the mRNA biogenesis pathway to detect and degrade transcripts that have not properly been processed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit</span> Biological/medical alliance

The Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit is an alliance between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Its primary aim is to uncover the molecular basis of disease and to speed the transformation of biomedical discoveries into personalized medicine strategies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Teichmann</span> German bioinformatician

Sarah Amalia Teichmann is a German scientist who is head of cellular genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and a visiting research group leader at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). She serves as director of research in the Cavendish Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge and a senior research fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FASTKD1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

FAST kinase domain-containing protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FASTKD1 gene on chromosome 2. This protein is part of the FASTKD family, which is known for regulating the energy balance of mitochondria under stress. FASTKD1 is also an RNA-binding protein and has been associated with endometrial cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FASTKD2</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

FAST kinase domain-containing protein 2 (FASTKD2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FASTKD2 gene on chromosome 2. This protein is part of the FASTKD family, which is known for regulating the energy balance of mitochondria under stress. FASTKD2 has been implicated in mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Mattaj</span> British scientist

Iain William Mattaj FRS FRSE is a British scientist and Honorary Professor at Heidelberg University in Germany. From 2005 to 2018 he was Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). He stepped down from the position at the end of 2018 following his appointment to Human Technopole. In January 2019 he took office as the first Director of Human Technopole, the new Italian institute for life sciences in Milan, Italy.

Sir Hugh Reginald Brentnall Pelham, is a cell biologist who has contributed to our understanding of the body's response to rises in temperature through the synthesis of heat shock proteins. He served as director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) between 2006 and 2018.

Elisa Izaurralde was an Uruguayan biochemist and molecular biologist. She served as Director and Scientific Member of the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen from 2005 until her death in 2018. In 2008, she was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, shared with Elena Conti, for "fundamental new insights into intracellular RNA transport and RNA metabolism". Together with Conti, she helped characterize proteins important for exporting mRNA out of the nucleus and later in her career she helped elucidate mechanisms of mRNA silencing, translational repression, and mRNA decay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Passmore</span> Canadian/British scientist

Lori Anne Passmore is a Canadian/British cryo electron microscopist and structural biologist who works at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at the University of Cambridge. She is known for her work on multiprotein complexes involved in gene expression and development of new supports for cryo-EM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melina Schuh</span> German molecular biologist

Melina Schuh is a German biochemist and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. She is known for her work on meiosis in mammalian oocytes, for her studies on the mechanisms leading to the age-related decline in female fertility, and for the development of the Trim-Away protein depletion method.

Anne Ephrussi is a French developmental and molecular biologist. Her research is focused on the study of post-transcriptional regulations such as mRNA localization and translation control in molecular biology as well as the establishment of polarity axes in cell and developmental biology. She is director of the EMBL International Centre for Advanced Training (EICAT) program at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) since 2005 and served as head of the Developmental Biology Unit from 2007 to 2021.

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