BIOSS Welcomes the New Junior Professor for Synthetic Biology of Signalling Processes
Winfried Römer (born in 1976) is the new Junior Professor for Synthetic Biology of Signalling Processes at BIOSS. He is an expert in the reconstitution of cellular processes on artificial membrane systems, amongst other things. His wife Julie Claudinon has a Ph.D. degree in Cell Biology and works in his research group.
We are happy that the Römer family is now part of the BIOSS team. We also want to congratulate Dr Römer for winning the Pfizer Research Award for Medicine, which he accepted on 3 February in Zurich.
Pfizer Research Award
The Pfizer Research Award is given to young scientists at Swiss research institutes and medical clinics for their outstanding and forward-looking contribution to fundamental or clinical research. It honours authors who develop new ideas and see them through to publication. Dr Winfried Römer from Curie Institute Paris (at the time) and Dr Helge Ewers from ETH Zurich were awarded the “research Oscar” by Pfizer for their publication “SV40 binding to its receptor, GM1, induces membrane invagination, tubulation and infection”.
W. Römer (right) with the Pfizer Award
The two scientists discovered a previously unknown mechanism used by polyoma tumour viruses to enter cells. These widespread tumour viruses do not bind to proteins, but to lipids on the host surface. The researchers demonstrated on SV40 how the virus comes into contact with the cell membrane, which then “invaginates” by inwardly forming a tubular membrane invagination around the virus, which then is cut off and internalized into the cell.
According to Dr Römer, “Polyoma viruses are tumour viruses that can cause serious illness and cancer in patients with suppressed immune systems. They do this by using lipids on cell membranes as receptors. We still don’t know exactly how lipids facilitate the internalization of viruses in cells, and that’s why this is a major focus of our research. By replacing cellular lipids with lipids whose structure had been changed, we were able to demonstrate that cellular lipids play a significant role in infection. We observed that, after binding to the membrane, the viruses could be found in narrow tubules originating from the plasma membrane. We also found these tubules in vitro in cases where the virus interacted with receptors with the right structure. This means that the virus can deform membranes without the help of cellular proteins, but by choosing lipids with a specific structure as receptors. Our findings show that the structure of the receptor lipid plays a key role in polyoma virus infections. Through the combination of in vitro studies and physical models, we were able to identify a general mechanism that enables lipid-binding polyoma viruses and bacterial toxins to penetrate cells. The lateral organization of lipids with a certain structure into tiny domains works like a switchboard that causes the membrane to deform and the pathogen to be internalized.”
Publication:
SV40 binding to its receptor, GM1, induces membrane invagination, tubulation and infection. Ewers, H.*, Römer, W.*, Smith, A.E., Bacia, K., Dmitrieff, S., Chai, W., Mancini, R., Kartenbeck, J., Chambon, V., Berland, L., Oppenheim, A., Schwarzmann, G., Feizi, T., Schwille, P., Sens, P., Jo-hannes, L., and Helenius, A. * equal contribution. Nat Cell Biol. 12(1) 11-8. (2010)
See also: Press Release Pfizer:http://www.pfizerforschungspreis.ch/images/stories/pdfs/winners/2011/Infektiologie_DrHelgeEwers.pdf
Interview with Winfried Römer
Dr Römer, what is the focus of your research?
My research group studies how human pathogens, such as Pseudomonas, Chlamydia and Influenza, are internalized in cells. The interaction between oligomeric sugar-binding proteins called lectins on the surface of the pathogens with glycosphingolipids of the host cell appears to play an extremely important role in this process. We particularly focus on how pathogens bind to the plasma membrane. This causes the membrane to restructure itself by inducing a cascade of signals, which leads to cytoskeleton remodelling. One of our goals is also to identify those cellular and microbial factors that are essential for the internalization and intracellular transport of pathogens. We hope that one day this will be used therapeutically to treat illnesses. We not only apply cell biological and biochemical approaches, we also reconstitute cellular processes on artificial membrane systems such as liposomes – which is basically synthetic membrane biology.
While you were a PhD student and postdoctoral researcher, you took many additional classes in other fields. Why?
I’m interested in a lot of things. I wanted my education to be as well rounded as possible; it’s something I’m profiting from now. Languages and soft skills are important in every situation in life – and of course they come in handy when you’re the head of a research group.
Tell us something about your certificate in higher education?
Although it was something extra, the certificate in higher education is as valuable as it was time-intensive. The certificate is part of the postdoctoral lecture qualification programme at all universities in Bavaria. We learned such skills as how do I evaluate students? How can I motivate them? How do I do a presentation? How can I solve conflicts? How do I interpret people’s body language? I love teaching and sharing my experiences with students. My favourite topic is how lectins decipher the glyco-code.
Do you have a dream goal for your research?
Cell biology has always fascinated me, and studying it was like a dream come true. Still, there are only a few research groups in today’s research landscape that combine cell biology with synthetic biology. To build an artificial cell together that functions like a natural cell that can move, process nourishment and divide is one of my dreams.
You have tenure in France. That's quite a privilege. But what does it mean?
In 2008, I was given tenure as a researcher (Chargé de recherche) by the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), which is a French research institution. I still applied for the position of junior professor in Freiburg because I found the subject and field of research highly interesting. Otherwise, we would have stayed in Paris. My career in France has been put on hold for the moment, but theoretically I could go back to France in six years. My tenure follows me wherever I go, even if I change my career profile or move to Nice or Marseille.
You’re a dedicated scientist with a family. How do you combine the two?
It works very well. My family helps me to maintain a balance with work. It’s not always easy, but my wife Julie and I have learned how to organize ourselves and, most importantly, how to be more effective. Julie has a Ph.D. in Cell Biology (Signalling Processes) from the Curie Institute. Her German is excellent. We wanted to move to somewhere in Germany close to France so our children can grow up bilingual. We feel right at home in Freiburg. Lucas is four and goes to a German-French kindergarten in Haslach, and Martin is eleven months and is in a day nursery near the University. The University’s Family Service was truly wonderful helping us find a place for him.
Dr Winfried Römer, the scientist with an unusual career track
Dr Römer acquired a postgraduate education degree in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Regensburg and passed his First State Examination in 2001; for his master’s thesis, he developed a pregnancy test during his chemistry placement. He worked with artificial membranes for the first time in the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Chemo- and Biosensors at the University of Regensburg. He acquired his Ph.D. there in 2004; his dissertation was entitled “Impedance analysis and single ion channel recordings on pore-suspending lipid bilayers based on highly ordered pore arrays”. In 2003-2004, he obtained a certificate in higher education from the University of Regensburg. In the end of 2004, he moved to France and took up a research position at the Curie Institute, where he studied clathrin-independent endocytosis pathways. In 2007, he acquired a Diplom degree in Management Consulting from the Akademie für Wirtschaftswissenschaften Bad Harzburg. He published an article in Nature in 2007. In 2008, he was given tenure by the research institution CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) as a research scientist at the Curie Institute. He published an article in Nature Cell Biology and in Cell 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the Pfizer Research Award in Infectious Diseases. In April 2011, he took up his new position as a junior professor at BIOSS.