Prof Dr Peter J. Peters (J.P.J.)
Expertises
For the non-expert
With a passion for invention in electron microscopy, Peter Peters has worked in a range of jobs from technician to professor. “I want to see how molecular machines operate inside cells and where proteins are located. Some cells have pits in their membranes that accept growth factors, for example, and when these structures get altered it can lead to cancer. One can guess how all the proteins in the pit work together by looking at the structures of individual proteins determined by X-ray crystallography, but being able to see how the proteins really fit together in the cell would add a lot of information on the mechanism”.
This is where electron microscopy (EM) comes in. “After 25 years experience I’ve developed ideas and scientific contacts that could make this dream come true. My aim is to devise a way of doing cryo-electron tomography. This will give us a 3D view of a cell’s internal structure. In cryo-EM, cells are flash frozen to –180°C. This vitrifies them — the cells become a ‘solid’ liquid (like glass). Another obstacle is getting thin enough slices. His initiative is driving developments literally at the cutting edge. The next step will be to identify the proteins by matching their electron densities to those determined by X-ray crystallography. The end result will be a tool that could revolutionize cell biology”. www.necen.nl
postdoc career development
Since 1998, Peters has been dean of postdoctoral affairs and built a ‘postdoc career development organization’ that facilitates young scientist making the right moves into their next career step by providing training in transferable skills and offering yearly 3 day retreats.
Specialties
Cell Biology
Electron Microscopy
Cryo Electron Tomography
Cryo Immunogold Labeling
Mycobacteria
Prions
Endocytosis
Lysosomes
Antigen presentation
Career history
Place and Date of birth: Hunsel, August 22, 1957
Nationality: Dutch
Education
Ph.D.
Faculty of Medicine, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, thesis advisor Hans Geuze, Jannie Borst and Hidde Ploegh, 1991
M.Sc.
Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 1987
Employment history
2014 – current
Professor of Nano Biology at the Maastricht University
1998 – 2013
2010 – 2013
1999 – 2009
Group Leader Division of Cell Biology, NKI-AVL
http://www.nki.nl/divisions/cell-biology-ii/peters-p-group
Professor of Nanobiology, Technical University Delft (0.2 FTE)
Professor of Cell Biology, Free University Amsterdam (0.2 FTE)
1999 – 2011
Dean postdoc career development initiative (www.pcdi.nl)
1994 – 1998
Junior Principal investigator, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
1991 – 1994
Postdoc lab of Richard Klausner, National Institute of Health, USA
Professional societies: Member of the American Society of Cell Biology & Member of the European Society of Microscopy
Current committee work: Search committee for new faculty members at the Kavli Institute of BioNanoScience in Delft (http://www.tnw.tudelft.nl/en/about-faculty/departments/bionanoscience)
Biographic sketch
Peters obtained his PhD from Utrecht University, where he analyzed the ultrastructure of MHC class II antigen processing and discovered with Jacques Neefjes and Hidde Ploegh the 'MHC class II compartment' (MIIC) (Peters PJ et al.,Nature, 1991, Peters PJ et al., J Exp Med 1995) and studied exocytosis of cytotoxic mediators in T cells. He established that secretory granules are of lysosomal nature (Peters PJ et al., J Exp Med. 1991). Peters joined the group of Rick Klausner at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA and identified ARF6 as a regulator for endocytosis (Peters PJ et al., J Cell Biol. 1995). In 1998, he became Principal Investigator at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and was appointed as professor at the Free University of Amsterdam. In 2010 he became part time professor of nanobiology at the Kavli Institute in Delft. Peters was the initiator to establish an 18 million Euro Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy that opened in October 2011 and is now part of the EU roadmap of large research infrastructure.
His long-term focus is on understanding the molecular machinery and organization of molecular sorting within the endocytic membrane system of a eukaryotic cell and their pathogens (D'Souza-Schorey C et al., J Cell Biol. 1998, Peters PJ et al.,Nature Cell Biol. 2002, van der Wel NN et al., Mol Biol Cell. 2003, Peters PJ et al., J Cell Biol. 2003 and Mironov A Jr et al, J Neurosci. 2003). Cryo-immunogold-EM methods of aldehyde-fixed cells are the main techniques applied, allowing the subcellular detection of gene products at the highest resolution. In addition, Peters’ lab is currently improving the ultrathin cryo-sectioning of native unfixed cells for high-resolution 3D cryo-electron tomography to visualize molecular machines in the context of organelles. Publications see below:
Peters' lab consists of 8 scientists and 4 technicians.
Peters was three times elected ‘best lecturer of the year’ at the medical School in Utrecht (1997) and Amsterdam (1998 and 1999)
Recent lecture on video: http://www.wetenschap24.nl/videos/spinoza-te-paard/afleveringen/2012/wat-is-leven-deel-2-peter-peters.html
Citation Indices: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1v5vVfgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Summary of current research interests
One focal point of our structural biology group is to reveal and manipulate the macromolecular organization of cells under normal and pathogenic conditions at the nano-scale level. We use cryo-electron tomography of vitreous sections, currently the only method that can obtain molecular resolution of macromolecular machines in cells in a near-native situation. The tomograms contain a 3D map of the cellular proteome at about 3-4 nm resolution and we are just beginning to explore its potential by placing high priority on developing methods for nanotechnology. The other central point of our group is to visualize gene products in cells by electron microscopy at the highest resolution with gold probes on cryo-sections.
List of publications
See the most recent update at:
Contributions to meetings, seminars and lectures as invited speaker
Invited lectures
Invited lectures at Yale, Harvard, UCSF, Notre Dame, NIH, Albert Einstein, University of
Zurich, Basel, London, Edinburgh, Oxford, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Toulouse, Berlin,
Munich, Jena, Aachen, Hamburg, Turku, Prague, Pamplona, Liege, Antwerp, Oslo,
Stockholm, Linkoping, Jerusalem, Haifa, Taipei, Osaka, Durban, and Moscow.
Invited speaker at the TB keystone meeting Vancouver December, 2010
Symposium chair at the international microscopy congress in Rio de Janairo 2011.
International scientific advisory board and symposium chair at the international
microscopy congress in Prague 2014.
NeCEN
Intiator and coordinator of a Dutch Roadmap Large Research Infrastructure Plan
(18 million Euro). Selected and placed on the roadmap in October 2008. Building
erected and opened October 2011. For more information see the Netherlands Centre for
Electron Nanosocpy www.necen.nl
Project and Sponsors:
40425 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NWO NWO MW 901-09-261 1/1/98 12/31/08 1998 NWO -
55470 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NWO MW 901-09-261 10/5/98 2/28/03 1998 >1 Sub.gev NWO MW 901-09-261 108,394
55480 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NSL 44754 10/1/99 4/22/03 1999 NSL NSL 44754 170,857
55490 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Prion protein localization. 3/6/00 3/5/03 2000 SPEC.GELD UCSF dr Prusener 133,726
56750 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI TSE-immu
EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 TSE-immu: Pre-clinical
improvement of combined immunotherapy and chemoterapy
for a new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 10/1/02 10/31/06 2002 EEG-CEC / EU EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 TSE-immu 309,841
56760 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI TSE
Pre-clinical improvement and initiation of a phase 1 clinical
trial of combined immunotherapy and chemotherapy for a
new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. (TSE Immunotherapy)
EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 10/1/02 4/1/06 2002 EEG-CEC / EU EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 (coordin 116,423
57000 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 (InPro) 10/1/02 2/28/05 2002 InPro EG QLK2-CT-2002-81628 (InPro) 145,455
56780 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI leprast.
CD1 trafficking and loading of Mycobacterium leprae lipids in
maturing dendritic cells of Genetic screens to identify cancer
related functions of human microRNAs 5/1/03 5/1/07 2003 NSL 702.02.62 321,569
56830 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI IMMUNO TSE STREP
Passage from intestine to brain: assessing the role of
dendritic cells in capturing, expanding and disseminating
prions. 11/1/03 5/1/06 2002 EEG-CEC / EU QLK5-CT-2002-01044 200,628
80267 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI hersenst Development of ante mortem tests for prion diseases. 4/1/04 5/10/05 2004 Hersenst. Hersenstichting Nederland 25,000
57480 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Sanquin EU projecten Peters 3/1/05 3/31/06 2005 EEG-CEC / EU Sanquin EU projecten Peters 95,100
57860 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NIH Peters Pathways of antigen presentation by CD 1 a, b and c 6/15/05 2/28/10 2005 NIH NIH Grant 2 R01 AI028973-17 114,420
57810 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI AntePrion EG AntePrion CT2006-019090 6/1/06 6/1/09 2006 EEG-CEC / EU LSHB-CT-2006-019090 266,850
57820 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI AntePrion Coordinatie
EG AntePrion CT2006-019090 (M) Development of a preclinical
blood test for prion diseases Coordiantie 6/1/06 6/1/09 2006 EEG-CEC / EU LSHB-CT-2006-019090 149,550
57890 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI EG ImmunoPrion
EG ImmunoPrion Immunological and structural studies of
prion diversity 6/1/06 12/1/09 2006 EEG-CEC / EU Food-CT-2006-023144 272,134
57970 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI strainbarrier STREP
Understanding prion strains and species barriers and
devising novel diagnostic approaches (strainbarrier) 11/1/06 5/1/10 2006 EEG-CEC / EU FOOD-CT-2006-023183 323,500
58126 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Aeras
Public Private Partnership for research into and development
of medicines, vaccines and diagnostic aids in the domain of
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria 1/1/07 12/31/10 2007 Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation aeras 1,300,000
58165 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI SmartMix NIMIC
E-cadhering and cadhering-11 and their role in cancer
migration" binnen het SmartMix programma NIMIC. 1/1/09 7/1/13 2007 MIN OCW SSM06002 364,980
58264 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Priority (FP7)
Protecting the food chain form prions: shaping European
priorities through basic and applied research (KP 7) 10/1/09 10/1/14 2009 EEG-CEC / EU 222887 288,976
58370 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Financiering Ulrike Financiering Ulrike Zeisse door TU-Delft 1/1/10 12/31/10 2010 Tu Delft 68,395
58380 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Nanonext
FES HTSM 'Towards a Sustainable and Open Innovation
Ecosystem' . NNNL.08A.02 1/1/10 1/1/17 2010 NanoNextNL FES0901 300,000
58367 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NIH Grant 2R01AI028973-22A1 Pathways of Antigen Presentation by CD1 7/1/10 7/1/15 2010 NIH 2R01AI028973-22A1 100,000
58381 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI NOTOX (FP7)
NOTOX Predicting long-term toxic effects using computer
models based on systems characterization of organotypic
cultures Grant Agreement Number 267038 1/1/11 1/1/16 2010 EEG-CEC / EU HEALTH-F5-2010-267038 902,500
58403 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI Phagosomal membrane 'How mycobacteria lyse the phagosomal membrane.' 1/1/11 1/1/15 2010 Leprastichting 702.03.32 331,638
58462 Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI DGIS Aeras DGIS Grant 1/1/11 1/1/15 2011 Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation 800,000
Peters, P.J. (Peter) MU InSense EU Marie Curi 2013 250,000
Peters, P.J. (Peter) MU ZON-MW Human in vitro tissue 2013 300,000
Peters, P.J. (Peter) STW Microscopy Valley 2013 750,000
Peters, P.J. (Peter) NKI reserve eigen middelen voor transfer van NK naar MUI 2013 550,000