Geert De Jaeger
Functional Proteomics
VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, UGent

PhD: Univ. of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, '97 Principle Investigator VIB since 2002

e-mail phone +32 9 331 38 70 ADDRESS

Current team members
Group leader: Geert De Jaeger
Postdoctoral scientists: Aurine Verkest, Jelle Van Leene
Ph.D. Student: Astrid Gadeyne
Support personnel: Dominique Eeckhout, Eveline Van De Slijke, Geert Persiau, Leen Vercruysse, Nancy De Winne

Keywords
cell cycle - protein complex - tandem affinity purification (TAP) - recombinant antibody - phage display

Science

Living systems are based on dynamical networks of molecules that interact via transient and more stable intermolecular bonds.  The Functional Proteomics Group combines transgenics, proteomics and bio-informatics to explore and unravel protein networks in the plant cell.

Protein-protein interactions as they appear in functional protein complexes have been studied in high throughput fashion in yeast via the in vivo expression of ‘tagged’ proteins and the subsequent retrieval of proteins bound to this ‘bait’. Especially the tandem affinity purification (TAP) method elegantly demonstrates the strength of such protein complex studies. We have developed a similar TAP technology platform for complex isolation from plant cells.  Purifications are performed on large series of Arabidopsis cell suspension cultures that can deliver the substantial amounts of starting material. More recently we have also started with plant tissues.  Co-purified proteins are identified by mass-spectrometry in collaboration with the Centre for Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry at Antwerp University.

Our TAP platform is used to unravel protein-protein interaction networks and transcriptional networks in the context of plant cell division, plant growth and secondary metabolism. Networks are visualized and further analysed computationaly for which we have set up collaboration with bio-informatics teams both from inside and outside the department.

Press Release
See also press release (11/08/2010): VIB and UGent researchers identify key mechanisms of cell division in plants in the leading journal Molecular Systems Biology (Van Leene et al., Targeted interactomics reveals a complex core cell cycle machinery in Arabidopsis thaliana)

Pauwels L, Barbero G, Geerinck J, Tilleman S, Grunewald W, Perez A, Chico J, Bossche R, Sewell J, Gil E, Garcia-Casado G, Witters E, Inzé D, Long J, De Jaeger G, Solano R, Goossens A
NINJA connects the co-repressor TOPLESS to jasmonate signalling
NATURE 464, 788-91, 2010



Van Leene J, Hollunder J, Eeckhout D, Persiau G, Van De Slijke E, Stals H, Van Isterdael G, Verkest A, Neirynck S, Buffel Y, De Bodt S, Maere S, Laukens K, Pharazyn A, Ferreira P, Eloy N, Renne C, Meyer C, Faure J, Steinbrenner J, Beynon J, Larkin J, Van de Peer Y, Hilson P, Kuiper M, De Veylder L, Van Onckelen H, Inzé D, Witters E, De Jaeger G
Targeted interactomics reveals a complex core cell cycle machinery in Arabidopsis thaliana
MOL SYST BIOL 6, 397, 2010



Van Leene J, Witters E, Inzé D, De Jaeger G
Boosting tandem affinity purification of plant protein complexes
TRENDS PLANT SCI 13, 517-20, 2008



Van Droogenbroeck B, Cao J, Stadlmann J, Altmann F, Colanesi S, Hillmer S, Robinson D, Van Lerberge E, Terryn N, Van Montagu M, Liang M, Depicker A, De Jaeger G
Aberrant localization and underglycosylation of highly accumulating single-chain Fv-Fc antibodies in transgenic Arabidopsis seeds
P NATL ACAD SCI USA 104, 1430-5, 2007



Van Leene J, Stals H, Eeckhout D, Persiau G, Van De Slijke E, Van Isterdael G, De Clercq A, Bonnet E, Laukens K, Remmerie N, Henderickx K, De Vijlder T, Abdelkrim A, Pharazyn A, Van Onckelen H, Inzé D, Witters E, De Jaeger G
A tandem affinity purification-based technology platform to study the cell cycle interactome in Arabidopsis thaliana
MOL CELL PROTEOMICS 6, 1226-38, 2007

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