Bart De Strooper
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
molecular biologist and professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
(Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
). He is head of the VIB Department of Molecular and Developmental Genetics, K.U.Leuven.
Bart De Strooper obtained an MD at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1985 and a PhD in 1992. He did a Postdoc at the EMBL in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1994. He is VIB Group leader since 1999, and Scientific Director, Department of Molecular and Developmental Genetics since 2007.
His research interest are the secretase
Secretase
Secretases are enzymes that "snip" pieces off a longer protein that is embedded in the cell membrane.thumb|300px|right|Processing of the amyloid precursor protein Among other roles in the cell, secretases act on the amyloid precursor protein to cleave the protein into three fragments...
s which are protease
Protease
A protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein....
s which cleave the amyloid peptide from the amyloid precursor protein
Amyloid precursor protein
Amyloid precursor protein is an integral membrane protein expressed in many tissues and concentrated in the synapses of neurons. Its primary function is not known, though it has been implicated as a regulator of synapse formation, neural plasticity and iron export...
(APP). The amyloid peptide
Peptide
Peptides are short polymers of amino acid monomers linked by peptide bonds. They are distinguished from proteins on the basis of size, typically containing less than 50 monomer units. The shortest peptides are dipeptides, consisting of two amino acids joined by a single peptide bond...
is the main constituent of the plaques in the brain in Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. Together with Christian Haass
Christian Haass
Christian Haass is a German biochemist who specializes in metabolic biochemistry and neuroscience.Haass studied biology in Heidelberg from 1981 to 1985. From 1990 on he was a...
he received the Potamkin Prize
Potamkin Prize
The Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's, and Related Diseases was established in 1988 and is sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology. The prize is funded through the philanthropy of the Potamkin Foundation...
in 2002.