Cell Biology

Introduction

Arnoud Sonnenberg was trained in several laboratories in the USA and the Netherlands before obtaining his PhD from the University of Amsterdam. In 1990, he joined the Division of Cell Biology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, where he became head of the Division in 2003. He has been an editor of the J. Cell Science since 2005. The main objective of his research is to understand the function of integrins in differentiation and migration, and how integrins and associated proteins regulate the assembly of multiprotein complexes at the cell substratum site in normal and pathological conditions.

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Introduction

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Introduction

Kees Jalink is a biophysicist who is interested in designing and developing technologies for tackling diverse biological questions. He has brought many new technologies to the NKI and is an advisor to three companies on the creation of new devices. He often builds prototypes in the lab from individual pieces using sticky tape and then invites industry in to make them user-friendly. His group spends half of its time establishing new techniques and serving as the NKI biophysical center of expertise for those techniques, collaborating and publishing jointly with others. With the other half, they focus on their own research on cellular adhesion mechanisms involved in cancer.

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Introduction

René Medema became director of the NKI in 2012, and brought an established research group to the institute. He has extensive experience studying the mechanisms underlying cell division, particularly the molecular checkpoints that control progression of the cell cycle. Many classic anti-cancer drugs kill cells by targeting the cell cycle, for example by damaging DNA or by perturbing assembly of the mitotic spindle, which is required for cell division. René's group aims to gain a clearer understanding of the cellular responses to these drugs in order to better predict drug responses and experimentally test new and potentially more effective anti-cancer strategies.

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Introduction

Human chromosomes are centimetres in length, but are organized such that they fit into a cell of micrometre-scale dimensions. Within this confined setting, chromosomes allow for tightly controlled cellular processes such as mitosis and transcription. These processes are to an important degree made possible by two conserved protein complexes known as cohesin and condensin. Both cohesin and condensin are so-called SMC complexes that by entrapping DNA inside their ring-shaped lumens can structure chromosomes. Our research centres on the mode of action of these vital protein complexes.

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Introduction

Marcel Verheij combines his clinical activities as a radiation oncologist at the Antoni vanLeeuwenhoek Hospital with translational research in the adjacent NKI. This helps him keep his laboratory work focused on clinical need, and his clinical work scientifically up to date. A two-year fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York during his residency-PhD program sparked an interest in apoptosis, or programmed cell death. This led to his current line of research investigating the mechanisms of radiation-induced cell death with a view to designing more effective combined treatment strategies by identifying tumor targeted agents that increase the cytotoxic effect of radiation.

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