The first international scientific seminar of the Welcoming ERA Chair to Centre of Excellence in Nutrigenomics to optimise health and well-being will take place on 15 March at 10:00 a.m. at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The seminar series will be inaugurated by Lars-Oliver Klotz, Professor of Nutrigenomics at the Institute of Nutritional Sciences at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany). Prof Klotz conducts research in biochemistry and molecular biology, molecular toxicology and cell biology. During the seminar in Olsztyn, he will give a lecture on “Selenium-binding proteins: from SNP to function”.
The seminar and the meeting with Prof. Klotz will be held at the Department of Food Science of the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences at Tuwima 10 St.
Prof. Lars-Oliver Klotz – BIO
Lars-Oliver Klotz (LOK) is Professor of Nutrigenomics at the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. He is Dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Friedrich Schiller University. He obtained his Diploma degree (an MSc equivalent) in biochemistry from the University of Tübingen, Germany, followed by a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany (1998; advisor: Helmut Sies). Following postdoctoral research at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, MD, USA, he obtained his lecturer’s qualification (Habilitation degree) at the University of Düsseldorf. In 2010, he moved to the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, where he was an Associate Professor (tenured) and held the Canada Research Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 2013, Dr. Klotz assumed his current position. Dr. Klotz is the 2006 recipient of SFRR-Europe’s Catherine-Pasquier-Award. His research interests include the biochemistry of oxidative stress, stress-induced signal transduction and molecular processes in aging.
Selenium-binding proteins: from SNP to function
Abstract:
Selenium-binding protein 1 (SELENBP1) was identified some thirty years ago as a selenium-containing protein that does not count among the 25 known human selenoproteins harboring selenocysteine residues. It has since been found to be a bona-fide tumor suppressor, but its exact function remained elusive until, in 2018, a series of single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified as the reason for a striking breath malodor of patients in a Dutch hospital. The underlying changes were demonstrated to affect the gene encoding SELENBP1, which was then identified as a methanethiol oxidase.
This presentation will summarize the work on SELENBP1 performed in the Klotz lab regarding the enzymatic activity of SELENBP1, the role of selenium, the role of transition metal ions and the search for a function of this protein, using isolated SELENBP1 mutants, cell culture models and a model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans.
