Martin Spiess
Martin Spiess (2011)
Born (1955-10-11) 11 October 1955
Zürich
NationalitySwiss
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsETH Zürich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Whitehead Institute, Biozentrum University of Basel

Martin Spiess (born 11 October 1955 in Zürich) is a Swiss Biochemist and former professor at the Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland.[1]

Life

Martin Spiess studied and graduated with a doctorate in biochemistry at the ETH Zurich. In 1983 he began research as a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, USA, returning in 1985 to the ETH Zurich. In 1986 he was appointed assistant professor at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, where he has taught and conducted research as associate professor since 1993 and as professor of biochemistry from 2004 to 2021. From 2010 to 2012, and from 2017 to 2021 Spiess served as Dean of the Faculty of Science.[2]

Work

Martin Spiess investigates topogenesis and the intracellular transport of membrane proteins in eukaryotic cells. He studies the mechanism of translocon function and how proteins are sorted in the cell and transported to their designated organelles. Spiess discovered that the translocon, in particular the asymmetric polarity along the pore, determines the thermodynamic equilibrium between integration of individual proteins segments into the cell membrane and their further transport.[3] Further studies demonstrated that the orientation of transmembrane segments are defined through the flanking charges, the folding of neighboring segments as well as the hydrophobic properties of the sequences themselves.[4]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ "Farewell of Prof. Martin Spiess". biozentrum.unibas.ch. 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Martin Spiess, Emeritus". biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  3. ↑ Demirci, Erhan; Junne, Tina; Sefer, Baday; Bernèche, Simon; Spiess, Martin (2013-11-19). "Functional asymmetry within the Sec61p translocon". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110. doi:10.1073/pnas.1318432110. PMC 3839696. PMID 24191046.
  4. ↑ Wahlberg, Johanna M.; Spiess, Martin (1997-05-05). "Multiple Determinants Direct the Orientation of Signal–Anchor Proteins: The Topogenic Role of the Hydrophobic Signal Domain". J Cell Biol. 138: 555–562. doi:10.1083/jcb.137.3.555. PMC 2139883. PMID 9151664.
  5. ↑ "EMBO Membership" (PDF). EMBO.org. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
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