A. H. de BOER - 14-3-3 Biology: from plant metabolism and signaling to tumor cell biology

Abstract

Dr. ir. Bert de Boer’s scientific career shows a continuous development across scientific disciplines, from geology to tumor cell biology. In 1980, he graduated at the Wageningen University in Soil Science, with a 6-month cartography project in Indonesia and a soil erosion project in the Negev Desert. During his PhD research at the University of Groningen, de Boer made a transition from soils to plant roots and received his degree with distinction in 1985 on salt tolerance mechanisms in plants. Thereafter, being a post-doctoral researcher for three years in Seattle at the University of Washington (United States) gave him the opportunity to specialize in plant biochemistry. In 1988, again at the University of Groningen, de Boer specialized in a new electrophysiological technique: patch-clamp.

In 1991, de Boer started at VU University Amsterdam where he combined biochemistry and electrophysiology and unraveled the molecular mechanism of the phytotoxin fusicoccin. In this way he entered the intriguing field of 14-3-3 biology and with an important finding about left-right asymmetry in frog embryo’s, he gradually made the transition to human tumor cell biology and the role of tip-binding 14-3-3 targets. Currently, his research focus is on a novel regulation mechanism of the Estrogen Receptor Alpha in breast tumor cells and a number of as yet unknown novel proteins that are controlled by 14-3-3 proteins through binding at the extreme C-terminus.

In his talk, Bert de Boer will describe how he got involved in 14-3-3 biology and will present the regulation by 14-3-3 proteins of some of their plant targets (ABF transcription factors, invertase and kinases). He will also present the results obtained in a recent study with Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion lines that show gene specificity and functional redundancy among 14-3-3 proteins in primary root elongation. Finally, Bert de Boer will present the role of 14-3-3 proteins and the fungal toxin fusicoccin in the regulation of the Estrogen Receptor alpha.

References

Schoonheim, P.J., Sinnige, M.P., Casaretto, J.A., Veiga, H., Bunney, T.D., Quatrano, R.S. and de Boer, A.H. (2007a) 14-3-3 adaptor proteins are intermediates in ABA signal transduction during barley seed germination. Plant Journal, 49, 289-301.
 
 Schoonheim, P.J., Veiga, H., Pereira, D.D., Friso, G., van Wijk, K.J. and de Boer, A.H. (2007b) A comprehensive analysis of the 14-3-3 interactome in barley leaves using a complementary proteomics and two-hybrid approach. Plant Physiology, 143, 670-683.
 
 Schoonheim, P.J., Pereira, D.D.C. and De Boer, A.H. (2009) Dual role for 14-3-3 proteins and ABF transcription factors in gibberellic acid and abscisic acid signalling in barley (Hordeum vulgare) aleurone cells. Plant Cell and Environment, 32, 439-447.
 
 de Boer, A.H. and de Vries-van Leeuwen, I.J. (2012) Fusicoccanes: diterpenes with surprising biological functions. Trends in Plant Science, 17, 360-368.
 
 de Boer, A.H., van Kleeff, P.J.M. and Gao, J. (2013) Plant 14-3-3 proteins as spiders in a web of phosphorylation. Protoplasma, 250, 425-440.
 
 Gao, J., van Kleeff, P.J., Oecking, C., Li, K.W., Erban, A., Kopka, J., Hincha, D.K. and de Boer, A.H. (2014) Light modulated activity of root alkaline/neutral invertase involves the interaction with 14-3-3 proteins. Plant Journal, 80, 785-796.
 
 Van Kleeff, P.J., Jaspert, N., Li, K.W., Rauch, S., Oecking, C. and De Boer, A.H. (2014) Higher order Arabidopsis 14-3-3 mutants show 14-3-3 involvement in primary root growth both under control and abiotic stress conditions. J Exp Bot. , 65, 5877-5888.
 
 de Vries-van Leeuwen, I.J., Kortekaas-Thijssen, C., Mandouckou, J.A.N., Kas, S., Evidente, A. and de Boer, A.H. (2010) Fusicoccin-A selectively induces apoptosis in tumor cells after interferon-alpha priming. Cancer Letters, 293, 198-206.
 
 De Vries-van Leeuwen, I.J., Pereira, D.D., Flach, K.D., Piersma, S.R., Haase, C., Bier, D., Yalcin, Z., Michalides, R., Feenstra, K.A., Jimenez, C.R., de Greef, T.F.A., Brunsveld, L., Ottmann, C., Zwart, W. and de Boer, A.H. (2013) Interaction of 14-3-3 proteins with the Estrogen Receptor Alpha F domain provides a drug target interface. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110, 8894-8899.

En savoir plus :http://www.falw.vu/~structbiol/SBresearch.html

Contact : Valérie Cotelle (LRSV) - cotelle@lrsv.ups-tlse.fr