Andreas Boland
| Andreas Boland | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1983 Cologne, Germany |
| 🏳️ Nationality | German |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Friedrich Schiller University Jena; Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Cryo-EM structures of separase |
Andreas Boland (born 9 January 1983) is a German structural biologist and biochemist. He is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Geneva, where his group uses cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to study protein complexes involved in cell cycle regulation and cell signalling.[1][2] He is known for determining structures of the protease separase and its regulatory complexes.[3][4]
Education and career
Andreas Boland obtained a diploma in biology from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 2008.[1] He completed his PhD summa cum laude in 2014 in the group of Elisa Izaurralde at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen.[1] From 2014 to 2018 he was a postdoctoral researcher with David Barford at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.[1] He established his research group at the University of Geneva in December 2018 and was promoted to associate professor in 2025.[1][2]
Research
Boland's research centres on the structural biology of separase, a protease that triggers chromosome segregation by cleaving the cohesin subunit SCC1.[5][6]
In 2017, as first and co-corresponding author, Boland and colleagues used cryo-EM to determine a near-atomic-resolution structure of a metazoan (Caenorhabditis elegans) separase–securin complex.[5] The study was accompanied by a commentary in the same journal.[3]
In 2021, Boland's group and collaborators determined structures of human separase bound to either its inhibitor securin or the CDK1–cyclin B1 complex, describing the mechanisms that keep the enzyme inactive.[6] This work and a corresponding News & Views article were published in Nature.[4]
In 2025, the group reported how human separase recognises its substrate, work that was discussed in a Focus commentary in Science Advances.[7][8]
His laboratory also studies the regulation of G protein-coupled receptors[1] and the structure of amyloid fibrils. In 2025 the group reported the cryo-EM structure of transthyretin fibrils isolated from a skin biopsy of a living patient with a rare ATTRv-F64S variant of ATTR amyloidosis, supporting skin biopsy as a minimally invasive diagnostic approach.[9]
Awards and honours
- 2014 – EMBO Long-Term Fellowship[1]
- 2016 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship[1]
- 2023 – EMBO Young Investigator (2023–2027)[2]
- 2023 – Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Starting Grant[10] The SNSF Starting Grants were launched as a transitional measure after Switzerland lost association to Horizon Europe, and were aimed at researchers who had intended to apply for a European Research Council Starting Grant; proposals were evaluated in two stages by international panels modelled on those of the ERC.[11]
Selected publications
- Boland A, Martin TG, Zhang Z, Yang J, Bai XC, Chang L, Scheres SH, Barford D (2017). "Cryo-EM structure of a metazoan separase–securin complex at near-atomic resolution". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 24 (4): 414–418. doi:10.1038/nsmb.3386. PMC 5385133. PMID 28263324.
- Yu J, Raia P, Ghent CM, Raisch T, Sadian Y, Cavadini S, Sabale PM, Barford D, Raunser S, Morgan DO, Boland A (2021). "Structural basis of human separase regulation by securin and CDK1–cyclin B1". Nature. 596 (7870): 138–142. Bibcode:2021Natur.596..138Y. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03764-0. PMC 8482764 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 34290405 Check|pmid=value (help). - Yu J, Schmidt S, Botto M, Lee K, Ghent CM, Goodfried JM, Howe A, O'Reilly FJ, Morgan DO, Boland A (2025). "Substrate recognition by human separase". Science Advances. 11 (46). Bibcode:2025SciA...11y9807Y. doi:10.1126/sciadv.ady9807. PMC 12609080 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 41223273 Check|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help) - Yu J, Zhang X, Pinton S, Vacchi E, Cavalli A, Pecoraro M, Melli G, Boland A, et al. (2026). "Structure of ATTRv-F64S fibrils isolated from skin tissue of a living patient". Nature Communications. 17 (1). Bibcode:2026NatCo..17..781Y. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67457-2. PMC 12824241 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 41402329 Check|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Group leader – Andreas Boland". Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Geneva. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Andreas Boland". European Molecular Biology Organization. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Singleton M, Uhlmann F (2017). "Separase–securin complex: a cunning way to control chromosome segregation". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 24 (4): 337–339. doi:10.1038/nsmb.3393. PMID 28384135.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hauf S (2021). "Two giants of cell division in an oppressive embrace". Nature. 596 (7870): 41–42. Bibcode:2021Natur.596...41H. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01944-6. PMID 34290414 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Boland A, Martin TG, Zhang Z, Yang J, Bai XC, Chang L, Scheres SH, Barford D (2017). "Cryo-EM structure of a metazoan separase–securin complex at near-atomic resolution". Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 24 (4): 414–418. doi:10.1038/nsmb.3386. PMC 5385133. PMID 28263324.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yu J, Raia P, Ghent CM, Raisch T, Sadian Y, Cavadini S, Sabale PM, Barford D, Raunser S, Morgan DO, Boland A (2021). "Structural basis of human separase regulation by securin and CDK1–cyclin B1". Nature. 596 (7870): 138–142. Bibcode:2021Natur.596..138Y. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03764-0. PMC 8482764 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 34290405 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Yu J, Schmidt S, Botto M, Lee K, Ghent CM, Goodfried JM, Howe A, O'Reilly FJ, Morgan DO, Boland A (2025). "Substrate recognition by human separase". Science Advances. 11 (46). Bibcode:2025SciA...11y9807Y. doi:10.1126/sciadv.ady9807. PMC 12609080 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 41223273 Check|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ Bouchoux C, Uhlmann F (2025). "Why is your separase such a big protease?". Science Advances. 11 (46). Bibcode:2025SciA...11c7431B. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aec7431. Unknown parameter
|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ Yu J, Zhang X, Pinton S, Vacchi E, Cavalli A, Pecoraro M, Melli G, Boland A, et al. (2026). "Structure of ATTRv-F64S fibrils isolated from skin tissue of a living patient". Nature Communications. 17 (1). Bibcode:2026NatCo..17..781Y. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67457-2. PMC 12824241 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 41402329 Check|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ "Deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying chromosome segregation". Swiss National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
- ↑ "New funding scheme: SNSF Starting Grants 2022". Swiss National Science Foundation. 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
External links
- Official website
- Boland group at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Geneva
- Entry at ORCID
Category:Living people Category:1983 births Category:German biochemists Category:Structural biologists Category:Academic staff of the University of Geneva Category:People from Cologne
This article "Andreas Boland" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Andreas Boland. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
