Tom Rapoport
Encyclopedia
Tom Abraham Rapoport is a German-American cell biologist who studies protein transport in cells.
He has been a professor at the Harvard Medical School
since 1995, and an HHMI investigator since 1997. He was a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR from 1988 until 1992 (when it was dissolved), he has been a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 2003, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences
since 2005, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
. He was awarded the Max Delbrück Medal in 2005.
Rapoport was born in Cincinnati in 1947. His parents had fled the Nazis, and when he was three years old they returned first to Austria and then to East Germany in 1951. His brother is mathematician Michael Rapoport
. He received his PhD on mathematical modeling of the kinetics of inorganic pyrophosphatase in 1972 from Humboldt University. He worked in the lab of Peter Heitmann, and his father, Samuel Mitja Rapoport
, was head of the Institute of Physiological Chemistry. At Humboldt he collaborated with Reinhart Heinrich on the mathematical modeling of glycolysis in red blood cells, leading to the establishment of metabolic control theory on which they submitted a joint 'habilitation
' thesis. At the same time he worked with Sinaida Rosenthal, a former student of his father, on cloning the insulin
gene from carp.
In 1979 he moved to the Zentralinstitut für Molekularbiologie der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, later called the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
, where he became a professor in 1985. After the reunification of Germany, Rapoport said he was turned down for professorships for "political reasons"; New Scientist reported that it was his membership of the Communist Party in East Germany that led some members of the board of trustees of the MDC to oppose him being given a professorship. He moved to the US in 1995. He studies several aspects of cellular secretion, including the mechanisms by which newly synthesized proteins are translocated from the cytosol to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum by the Sec61
complex (also known as the translocon
), how misfolded secretory proteins are degraded by endoplasmic reticulum associated protein degradation (also known as ERAD
), and how reticulons and related proteins regulate the morphology of the endoplasmic reticulum.
He has been a professor at the Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
since 1995, and an HHMI investigator since 1997. He was a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR from 1988 until 1992 (when it was dissolved), he has been a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 2003, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
since 2005, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. He was awarded the Max Delbrück Medal in 2005.
Rapoport was born in Cincinnati in 1947. His parents had fled the Nazis, and when he was three years old they returned first to Austria and then to East Germany in 1951. His brother is mathematician Michael Rapoport
Michael Rapoport
Michael Rapoport is a German mathematician. He currently holds a chair for arithmetic algebraic geometry at the University of Bonn...
. He received his PhD on mathematical modeling of the kinetics of inorganic pyrophosphatase in 1972 from Humboldt University. He worked in the lab of Peter Heitmann, and his father, Samuel Mitja Rapoport
Samuel Mitja Rapoport
Samuel Mitja Rapoport was a prominent physician, biochemist, European Jewish émigré, and Communist who fled to East Germany from McCarthyite persecution in the United States.- Biography :Throughout his life Samuel Mitja Rapoport saw danger and exile...
, was head of the Institute of Physiological Chemistry. At Humboldt he collaborated with Reinhart Heinrich on the mathematical modeling of glycolysis in red blood cells, leading to the establishment of metabolic control theory on which they submitted a joint 'habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
' thesis. At the same time he worked with Sinaida Rosenthal, a former student of his father, on cloning the insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
gene from carp.
In 1979 he moved to the Zentralinstitut für Molekularbiologie der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, later called the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin-Buch is one of the sixteen research centers of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. The Max Delbrück Center was founded in January 1992 as successor of the Zentralinstitut für Molekularbiologie that depended of the German...
, where he became a professor in 1985. After the reunification of Germany, Rapoport said he was turned down for professorships for "political reasons"; New Scientist reported that it was his membership of the Communist Party in East Germany that led some members of the board of trustees of the MDC to oppose him being given a professorship. He moved to the US in 1995. He studies several aspects of cellular secretion, including the mechanisms by which newly synthesized proteins are translocated from the cytosol to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum by the Sec61
Sec61
Sec61 is an endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein translocator . It is a doughnut shaped pore through the membrane with 3 major subunits . It has a region called the plug that blocks transport into or out of the ER...
complex (also known as the translocon
Translocon
The translocon is the complex of proteins associated with the translocation of nascent polypeptides across membranes. In eukaryotes the polypeptides are transported into the interior space of the endoplasmic reticulum from the cytosol...
), how misfolded secretory proteins are degraded by endoplasmic reticulum associated protein degradation (also known as ERAD
ERAD
Endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation designates a cellular pathway which targets misfolded proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation by a protein-degrading complex, called the proteasome....
), and how reticulons and related proteins regulate the morphology of the endoplasmic reticulum.