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Bert Poolman

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Bert Poolman
Bert Poolman
Born
Bert Poolman

(1959-05-08) 8 May 1959 (age 65)
Avereest, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Alma materUniversity of Groningen
Known forMembrane biology, bioenergetics, membrane transport
SpouseHeleen Stevenson
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry, biophysics, microbiology, synthetic biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Groningen, 1989–present
ThesisEnergy transducing processes in growing and starving lactic acid streptococcci (1987)
Doctoral advisorWil Konings and Hans Veldkamp
Websitewww.rug.nl/staff/b.poolman/

Berend (Bert) Poolman is a Dutch biochemist, as specialist in bioenergetics of microorganisms and membrane transport. He is a professor of Biochemistry at the University of Groningen[1] and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) since 2009.[2] Poolman is a pioneer in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology, that is, the construction from molecular building blocks of functional metabolic networks and autonomously operating functional systems, which are typical of living cells. Poolman is a lecturer in membrane biology and synthetic biology.

Education and career

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Poolman pursued studies in Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and the University of Bern (Switzerland), obtaining a MSc degree in 1984. He gained his PhD in 1987 with a thesis on bioenergetics of streptococci, under the supervision of Wil Konings and Hans Veldkamp.[3] After a brief stint as a scientist at Genencor Inc (now Dupont Industrial Biosciences) in San Francisco (USA), he returned to the Netherlands in the end of 1989 to start his own research group on biochemistry and molecular biology of membrane transport at the University of Groningen, supported by a fellowship from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been professor of biochemistry at the Groningen since 1998.[4] In 2008 he was appointed Program Director of its Centre for Synthetic Biolog),[5] and in 2013 he became Scientific Director of its Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute.[6] In 1993 Poolman has done a sabbatical at Transgene SA, Strasbourg (France). Thanks to a Fulbright fellowship, he was visiting professor in biochemistry at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (USA) in 2003.

Poolman has been Chair of the KNAW Earth and Life Sciences Board, and has been vice-chair of KNAW Council for Natural and Technical Sciences since 2017.[7] From 2016 to 2018, he was a member of the Dutch Council for Physics and Chemistry,[8] and currently he is a member of the core team of the Council for Chemistry.[9] Since 2009 he led the focus area on ‘Biomolecular and Bioinspired Functionality’ at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (University of Groningen, together with Nobel laureate Ben Feringa, and, from 2010 to 2017, he managed a national Synthetic Biology program of the University of Groningen.[10][11]

Research

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Poolman has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the dynamics and permeability of biological membranes[12][13] and to the field of vectorial biochemistry, that is, the role of electrochemical gradients in the fuelling and regulation of membrane transport.[14][15] He demonstrated that the exchange of different sugars can be more advantageous for a cell than sugar-proton symport, and showed that cells exploit the coupling of substrate import to product exchange to conserve metabolic energy.[16][17]

He is an expert in the field of ATP-binding cassette transporters, one of the largest known protein families, by combining functional and structural studies. Highlights include: discovery of export of hydrophobic compounds from the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer;[18] elucidation of sensing and gating mechanism of ABC importers involved in cell volume regulation;[19] single-molecule fluorescence studies to elucidate the mechanism of solute capture and translocation;[20][21] structural basis for peptide selection by receptors involved in nitrogen uptake;[22] structural basis for vitamin recognition and transport by a new class of ABC importers;[23] and the energy coupling stoichiometry of ABC importers.[24] Poolman has advanced of membrane transport by combining mechanistic in vitro studies with in vivo analyses of transporter regulation.[25][26] His group has developed innovative technologies in membrane reconstitution[27][28][29] and the probing of the physicochemical state of both the cytoplasm[30] and the cell membrane.[31] His group was the first to show that changes in the ionic strength are used to gate the activity of osmoregulatory transporters,[32] providing the cell with a simple on/off switch to control its cytoplasmic volume. In parallel, his group developed sensors to quantify changes in ionic strength[33] and excluded volume (macromolecular crowding).[34]

Current research (2020)

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His main current research areas include: (i) bacterial cell-volume regulation: elucidation of the homeostatic mechanisms that control the physicochemistry of the cell;[35][36] (ii) building of synthetic cells: construction of functional out-of-equilibrium systems for metabolic energy conservation and development of cell volume regulatory networks.[37] What tasks should a living cell minimally perform and how this can be accomplished with a minimal set of components? and (iii) the molecular mechanisms of membrane transport proteins: understanding the dynamics, energetics and mechanisms of solute transporters in the plasma membrane.[38][39]

Publications

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  • Poolman is ISI highly cited researcher in microbiology. He has published over 275 peer-reviewed papers in international scientific journals,[40] which have been cited more than 25,000 times. His H-index (Google Scholar) is 83,[41] and he holds four patents. Poolman shares his findings with wide audiences through newspaper, radio and TV appearances. In 2012 Schrauwers and Poolman wrote the book Synthetische Biologie: de Mens als Schepper (Synthetic Biology: Man as a Creator) to convey the developments in synthetic biology to a lay audience.[42]

Awards and fellowships

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Poolman has received numerous awards, including the Biochemistry Award (1989) of the Dutch Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Organisation (NVBMB),[43] a Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences fellowship (1989), a Human Frontiers Science Program Organization award (1992),[44] the SON ‘Jonge Chemici’ award (1997), the Federation European Biochemical Society Lecturer Award (2014),[45] and the Joel Mandelstam Memorial Lecture award (2016).[46]

He obtained four TOP program grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)(2001, 2007, 2010, 2014).,[47][48] two program grants from the Netherlands Proteomics Centre (2005 en 2008),[49] and coordinated three large European networks (1996, 1999 and 2012). In 2015 he received an ERC Advanced Grant[50] and in 2019 an ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant,[51] and in 2017 the BaSyC consortium (with Poolman as one of the lead principal investigators) was awarded a multimillion Dutch Gravitation grant.[52]

Personal life

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Poolman was born in 1959 as the first son of Jelto Poolman and Neeltje Prinsse. In 1983 he married Heleen Stevenson (1959), with whom he has four children.

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References

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  1. ^ "Prof. Dr. B. (Bert) Poolman". RUG. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Bert Poolman". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020.
  3. ^ B. Poolman. "Energy transducing processes in growing and starving lactic acid streptococcci" (PDF). RUG. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Prof. Dr. B. (Bert) Poolman, Hoogleraar Biochemie". RUG. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  5. ^ "477 Ru Groningen Start Onderzoekscentrum Synthetische Biologie". Zorg en Financiering. 7 (4). Springer: 110–111. 2008. doi:10.1007/BF03096713. S2CID 195377380.
  6. ^ "Management". RUG. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Member of KNAW Council for Natural and Technical Sciences". KNAW. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Wie zijn wij?". Raad voor de Natuur- en Scheikunde. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Members KNAW". KNAW. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. ^ "ZI-NRC focus areas". RUG. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Prof. Dr. Bert Poolman". Membrane Enzymology. Retrieved 6 March 2020..
  12. ^ "Mechanisms of membrane toxicity of hydrocarbons" (PDF). RUG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. ^ Ramadurai, Sivaramakrishnan; Holt, Andrea; Krasnikov, Victor; Van Den Bogaart, Geert; Killian, J. Antoinette; Poolman, Bert (2009). "Lateral Diffusion of Membrane Proteins". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 131 (35). ACS Publications: 12650–12656. doi:10.1021/ja902853g. PMID 19673517.
  14. ^ "Regulation of Solute Transport in Streptococci by External and Internal pH Values" (PDF). RUG. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Regulation of bacterial sugar-H+ symport by phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent enzyme I/HPrmediated phosphorylation" (PDF). RUG. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Arginine transport in Streptococcus lactis is catalyzed by a cationic exchanger" (PDF). RUG. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Malolactic Fermentation" (PDF). RUG. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  18. ^ Bolhuis, H.; Van Veen, H. W.; Molenaar, D.; Poolman, B.; Driessen, A. J.; Konings, W. N. (1996). "Multidrug resistance in Lactococcus lactis: evidence for ATP-dependent drug extrusion from the inner leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane". The EMBO Journal. 15 (16). EMBO Press: 4239–4245. doi:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1996.tb00798.x. PMC 452149. PMID 8861952.
  19. ^ Biemans-Oldehinkel, E.; Mahmood, N. A. B. N.; Poolman, B. (2006). "A sensor for intracellular ionic strength". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (28). PNAS: 10624–10629. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10310624B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0603871103. PMC 1502282. PMID 16815971.
  20. ^ Van Der Heide, Tiemen; Poolman, Bert (2002). "ABC transporters: one, two or four extracytoplasmic substrate-binding sites?". EMBO Reports. 3 (10). EMBO Press: 938–943. doi:10.1093/embo-reports/kvf201. PMC 1307614. PMID 12370206.
  21. ^ Gouridis, Giorgos; Schuurman-Wolters, Gea K.; Ploetz, Evelyn; Husada, Florence; Vietrov, Ruslan; De Boer, Marijn; Cordes, Thorben; Poolman, Bert (2015). "Conformational dynamics in substrate-binding domains influences transport in the ABC importer GlnPQ". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 22 (1): 57–64. doi:10.1038/nsmb.2929. PMID 25486304. S2CID 23740596.
  22. ^ Berntsson, Ronnie P-A; Doeven, Mark K.; Fusetti, Fabrizia; Duurkens, Ria H.; Sengupta, Durba; Marrink, Siewert-Jan; Thunnissen, Andy-Mark W H.; Poolman, Bert; Slotboom, Dirk-Jan (2009). "The structural basis for peptide selection by the transport receptor OppA". The EMBO Journal. 28 (9). EMBO Press: 1332–1340. doi:10.1038/emboj.2009.65. PMC 2683046. PMID 19300437.
  23. ^ Erkens, Guus B.; Berntsson, Ronnie P-A; Fulyani, Faizah; Majsnerowska, Maria; Vujičić-Žagar, Andreja; Ter Beek, Josy; Poolman, Bert; Slotboom, Dirk Jan (2011). "The structural basis of modularity in ECF-type ABC transporters". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 18 (7): 755–760. doi:10.1038/nsmb.2073. PMID 21706007. S2CID 254466.
  24. ^ "The ATP/Substrate Stoichiometry of the ATP-binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter OpuA". Journal of Biological Chemistry. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  25. ^ Meinema, A. C.; Laba, J. K.; Hapsari, R. A.; Otten, R.; Mulder, F. A. A.; Kralt, A.; Van Den Bogaart, G.; Lusk, C. P.; Poolman, B.; Veenhoff, L. M. (2011). "Long Unfolded Linkers Facilitate Membrane Protein Import Through the Nuclear Pore Complex". Science. 333 (6038): 90–93. Bibcode:2011Sci...333...90M. doi:10.1126/science.1205741. PMID 21659568. S2CID 206534040.
  26. ^ "Steric exclusion and protein conformation determine the localization of plasma membrane transporters". Nature Communications. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  27. ^ Geertsma, Eric R.; Nik Mahmood, N A B.; Schuurman-Wolters, Gea K.; Poolman, Bert (2008). "Membrane reconstitution of ABC transporters and assays of translocator function" (PDF). Nature Protocols. 3 (2): 256–266. doi:10.1038/nprot.2007.519. PMID 18274528. S2CID 21976488.
  28. ^ Geertsma, E. R.; Groeneveld, M.; Slotboom, D.-J.; Poolman, B. (2008). "Quality control of overexpressed membrane proteins". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (15). PNAS: 5722–5727. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.5722G. doi:10.1073/pnas.0802190105. PMC 2311375. PMID 18391190.
  29. ^ Bill, Roslyn M.; Henderson, Peter J F.; Iwata, So; Kunji, Edmund R S.; Michel, Hartmut; Neutze, Richard; Newstead, Simon; Poolman, Bert; Tate, Christopher G.; Vogel, Horst (2011). "Overcoming barriers to membrane protein structure determination" (PDF). Nature Biotechnology. 29 (4): 335–340. doi:10.1038/nbt.1833. PMID 21478852. S2CID 205275467.
  30. ^ Spitzer, Jan; Pielak, Gary J.; Poolman, Bert (2015). "Emergence of life: Physical chemistry changes the paradigm". Biology Direct. 10: 33. doi:10.1186/s13062-015-0060-y. PMC 4460864. PMID 26059688.
  31. ^ Moiset, Gemma; López, Cesar A.; Bartelds, Rianne; Syga, Lukasz; Rijpkema, Egon; Cukkemane, Abhishek; Baldus, Marc; Poolman, Bert; Marrink, Siewert J. (2014). "Disaccharides Impact the Lateral Organization of Lipid Membranes". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 136 (46). JACS: 16167–16175. doi:10.1021/ja505476c. PMID 25316578.
  32. ^ Biemans-Oldehinkel, E.; Mahmood, N. A. B. N.; Poolman, B. (2006). "A sensor for intracellular ionic strength". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (28). Biological Sciences: 10624–10629. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10310624B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0603871103. PMC 1502282. PMID 16815971.
  33. ^ Liu, Boqun; Poolman, Bert; Boersma, Arnold J. (2017). "Ionic Strength Sensing in Living Cells". ACS Chemical Biology. 12 (10). ACS: 2510–2514. doi:10.1021/acschembio.7b00348. PMC 5653947. PMID 28853549.
  34. ^ Boersma, Arnold J.; Zuhorn, Inge S.; Poolman, Bert (2015). "A sensor for quantification of macromolecular crowding in living cells" (PDF). Nature Methods. 12 (3): 227–229. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3257. PMID 25643150. S2CID 90329243.
  35. ^ Van Den Berg, Jonas; Boersma, Arnold J.; Poolman, Bert (2017). "Microorganisms maintain crowding homeostasis". Nature Reviews Microbiology. 15 (5). Nature Reviews: 309–318. doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2017.17. PMID 28344349. S2CID 7829229.
  36. ^ "Ribosome surface properties may impose limits on the nature of the cytoplasmic proteome". E LIFE. doi:10.7554/eLife.30084.001. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  37. ^ Pols, Tjeerd; Sikkema, Hendrik R.; Gaastra, Bauke F.; Frallicciardi, Jacopo; Śmigiel, Wojciech M.; Singh, Shubham; Poolman, Bert (2019). "A synthetic metabolic network for physicochemical homeostasis". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 4239. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.4239P. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12287-2. PMC 6751199. PMID 31534136.
  38. ^ Bianchi, Frans; Syga, Łukasz; Moiset, Gemma; Spakman, Dian; Schavemaker, Paul E.; Punter, Christiaan M.; Seinen, Anne-Bart; Van Oijen, Antoine M.; Robinson, Andrew; Poolman, Bert (2018). "Steric exclusion and protein conformation determine the localization of plasma membrane transporters". Nature Communications. 9 (1). Springer Nature Communications: 501. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9..501B. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02864-2. PMC 5799302. PMID 29402931.
  39. ^ "Conformational and dynamic plasticity in substrate-binding proteins underlies selective transport in ABC importers". eLIFE. doi:10.7554/eLife.44652.001. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  40. ^ "Publicaties B. Poolman". Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  41. ^ "Poolman B". Google Scholar. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  42. ^ "Synthetische Biologie: de Mens als Schepper". Bol.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  43. ^ "NVBMB Prize". NVBMB. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  44. ^ "Our mission". HFSP. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  45. ^ "FEBS: advancing molecular life sciences". FEBS. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  46. ^ "Oxford Talks". University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  47. ^ "NWO Chemistry of Life Factsheet 2015-2016" (PDF). NWO. Retrieved 19 February 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  48. ^ "TOP-PUNT Grant for Poolman". RUG. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  49. ^ "Analytical Hotel Groningen". netherlands proteomics centre. Retrieved 19 February 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  50. ^ "Twee Europese subsidies voor fundamenteel biochemisch onderzoek". RUG. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  51. ^ "List of selected principal investigators" (PDF). ERC. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  52. ^ "BaSyC - Building a Synthetic Cell". NWO. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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