Profile of the advisor
Prof. dr. Bert Poolman was trained in bioenergetics and microbiology and is now active in biochemistry and biophysics. Poolman has a track record in vectorial biochemistry, including metabolic energy conservation, membrane transport and cell volume regulation as well as the development of innovative technologies in membrane biology. He has advanced the field of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and secondary active transporters by combining functional and structural studies.
The main current research areas include:
• Building of synthetic cells: construction of functional far-from-equilibrium systems for metabolic energy conservation and development of cell volume regulatory networks.
• Cellular homeostasis: elucidation of the (transport) mechanisms that control the physicochemistry of the cell.
• Traffic of membrane proteins: understanding of the targeted delivery, localization and energetics of nutrient transporters in the plasma membrane of yeast.
Profile of the research group
Central questions in the Poolman group are: (i) What tasks should a living cell minimally perform and how this can be accomplished with a minimal set of components? (ii) How do molecules permeate biological membranes? (iii) How can one control the volume and physicochemistry of the cell?
