Kai Simons is a Finnish professor of

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

and physician, living and working in Germany. He introduced the concept of

lipid rafts The plasma membranes of cells contain combinations of glycosphingolipids, cholesterol and protein receptors organized in glycolipoprotein lipid microdomains termed lipid rafts. Their existence in cellular membranes remains controversial. Indee ...

, and coined the term ''

trans-Golgi network The Golgi apparatus (), also known as the Golgi complex, Golgi body, or simply the Golgi, is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. Part of the endomembrane system in the cytoplasm, it packages proteins into membrane-bound vesicles insi ...

''. He is the co-founder and co-organizer of the

European Molecular Biology Laboratory The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 29 member states, two prospect member states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in ...

and

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

, and initiated the foundation of

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics __NOTOC__ The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) is a biology research institute located in Dresden, Germany. It was founded in 1998 and was fully operational in 2001. Research groups in the institute work in m ...

Early life and education

Kai Simons is the son of a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

professor. His father convinced him to study medicine, though he originally wanted to study physics. While studying at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, Simons spent a summer internship in the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

laboratory of

Bengt Samuelsson Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson (21 May 1934 – 5 July 2024) was a Swedish biochemist. He shared with Sune K. Bergström and John R. Vane the 1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related substance ...

There, he studied mechanisms of

vitamin B12 Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. One of eight B vitamins, it serves as a vital cofactor (biochemistry), cofactor in DNA synthesis and both fatty acid metabolism, fatty acid and amino a ...

absorption. He worked with other students to organize a campaign to fight

taeniasis Taeniasis is an infection within the intestines by adult tapeworms belonging to the genus '' Taenia''. There are generally no or only mild symptoms. Symptoms may occasionally include weight loss or abdominal pain. Segments of tapeworm may be ...

, a disease common in eastern Finland where eating raw fish is popular. After completing his MD in 1964, he began a

postdoctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked between 1966 and 1967 on

blood serum Serum () is the fluid and solvent component of blood which does not play a role in clotting. It may be defined as blood plasma without the clotting factors, or as blood with all cells and clotting factors removed. Serum contains all proteins ex ...

protein polymorphism.

Career

Simons returned to Helsinki in 1967, where he began working as a junior investigator for the Finnish Medical Research Council at the

. He became a group leader in 1972 and was a biochemistry professor in 1971–79 at the medical faculty of this university At first, he continued his work on serum proteins. Next, together with Leevi Kääriäinen and Ossi Renkonen, he started a research team – later joined by Ari Helenius, his first PhD student and later a post doctoral researcher who became Simons' brother-in-law. After a one-month stay in MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, the group started investigating a

Semliki Forest virus Semliki Forest virus is an alphavirus found in central, eastern, and southern Africa. It was first isolated from mosquitoes in the Semliki Forest, Uganda by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 1942 and described by Smithburn and Haddow. It ...

, introduced to Simons by Kääriäinen. In 1975 Simons went to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Germany, as one of the

EMBL The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 29 member states, two prospect member states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in ...

group leaders. Together with Ari Helenius he helped to develop EMBL, headed at this time by

John Kendrew Sir John Cowdery Kendrew, (24 March 1917 – 23 August 1997) was an English biochemist, crystallographer, and science administrator. Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Max Perutz, for their work at the Cavendish Labo ...

. In years 1982–1998 Simons was a coordinator of the Cell Biology Program there. During this time he for the first time he introduced the concept of

, as well as coined the term ''

'' and proposed its role in protein and lipid sorting. In 1999 he took part in setting up ELSO (later incorporated into EMBO), which later he presided over. He was one of the initiators of establishing and building

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

(Germany), where he moved. Formally from 1998 (beginning of MPI-CBG construction) and from 2000 he was one of five institute's directors and also a group leader there. He was a director (1998–2006) and a group leader (until 2012). Since 2006 he is a "director emeritus". He is the co-founder and co-owner of Lipotype GmbH.> In 2012 he started-up a biotech company Lipotype GmbH, where he is a CEO.

Research

Early in his career, Simons pursued research in the field of medical biochemistry. Both his

master's thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

and postgraduate research focused on

absorption. After returning from his post-doc scholarship he continued research on vitamin B12 as well as on blood plasma proteins, but soon started investigating

, focusing on its

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...

and its

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

composition and their role in the virus budding and its transport, as the model for lipid and

protein secretion A secretory protein is any protein, whether it be endocrine or exocrine, which is secreted by a cell. Secretory proteins include many hormones, enzymes, toxins, and antimicrobial peptides. Secretory proteins are synthesized in the endoplasmic reti ...

. During this period, Simons also investigated the application of detergents in biochemistry with a special attention to their role in biological membrane research. The virus lifecycle and how it uses components of vesicular pathways while shuttling to the cell surface, turned Simons' attention toward vesicular transport pathways and cell polarization. Applying

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial ( mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of man ...

model cells –

MDCK Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells are a model mammalian cell line used in biomedical research. MDCK cells are used for a wide variety of cell biology studies including cell polarity, cell-cell adhesions (termed adherens junctions), collectiv ...

(Madin-Darby canine kidney), he investigated lipid transport, protein sorting and their role in polarizing cells. In these studies, he described the role of the

(TGN) in protein and lipid sorting according to their destination. In his works from 1988, together with Gerit van Meer, Simons proposed the existence of lipid microdomains in

cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extr ...

s for the first time. Such microdomains differ in their composition from the surrounding membrane and have special functions. Simons coined the term '

' to describe these microdomains. This concept was developed over the years to be presented more fully in 1997 in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' journal by Simons and Ikonen. This paper became one of the most frequently cited works in the field of membrane research. Other Simons' paper, on role of lipid rafts in the

signal transduction Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a biochemical cascade, series of molecular events. Proteins responsible for detecting stimuli are generally termed receptor (biology), rece ...

is second highest cited work and Simons is fourth highest cited scientist in the field of signal transduction. Kai Simons was also recognized by

ISI Web of Knowledge The Web of Science (WoS; previously known as Web of Knowledge) is a paid-access platform that provides (typically via the internet) access to multiple databases that provide reference and citation data from academic journals, conference proceedi ...

, as one of the most cited scientist ever. In subsequent years, Simons continued to work on the role of lipid rafts, and more generally lipids, in cell polarization and protein sorting. He was interested also in the role of lipids and protein sorting in

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

, especially in

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. His scientific record includes more than 350

scientific article Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical ...

s, mostly in the field of biochemistry, molecular organization of the cell, and biochemistry and physiology of a cell membrane. Considering his work from years 1996–2007 tracked until May 2009, Simons was 12. in the list of the most frequently cited scientists in the field

with 90 articles and 16,299 citations.

Honours and awards

Kai Simons honours and awards include: * 1975 Federation of European Biochemical Society Anniversary Prize * 1984 Honorary Professor,

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, Germany * 1989 Lamport Visiting Professor (Columbia, New York) * 1990 Histochemical Society Lecture * 1990 Keith R. Porter Lecture, American Society of Cell Biology * 1991 Anders Jahre Prize for Medical Research * 1991 NICHD Lectureship in Cell Biology * 1993 Carl Zeiss Lecture, German Society for Cell Biology * 1994 Harvey Society Lecture * 1996 Dunham Lecturer,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

* 1996 Foreign Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

* 1997

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

* 1997 Adam Neville Lecture,

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

, UK * 1997 Foreign Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, USA * 1997 Runeberg Prize, Finland * 1998

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

* 1998 Choh Hao Li Memorial Lecture in Biochemical Endocrinology,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

* 1999

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

, Finland * 2000 President of the European Life Scientist Organisation * 2001 Honorary member of the German Society for Cell Biology * 2001 ISI Highly cited researcher * 2001 Schleiden Medal of Academy Leopoldina * 2002 Hoppe-Seyler Lecture, Society of Biology and Molecular Biology Germany * 2003 Albert Wander Prize, University of Bern, Switzerland * 2003 Matti Äyräpää Prize, Finland * 2003 Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Leuven, Belgium * 2003 Honorary Professor at

TU Dresden TU Dresden (for , abbreviated as TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony a ...

* 2003 Nessim-Habif World Prize, University of Geneva, Switzerland * 2004 Virchow Lecture and Medal,

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

, Germany * 2005 Foundation Day Lecture, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India * 2005 van Deenen Medal, Utrecht, The Netherlands * 2006 A.I. Virtanen Medal, Finland * 2006 Honorary member of the Societas Biochemica, Biophysica et Microbiologica Fenniae * 2007 Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony * 2010 Doctor honoris causa,

University of Kuopio The University of Eastern Finland () is a university in Finland, which was founded in 2010 and has campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things, extended ...

, Finland * 2011 Doctor honoris causa,

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, Switzerland * 2016 Robert Koch Medal Kai Simons was and is also a member of numerous societies, committees and organisations, as well as an editor for several scientific journals.

Personal life

He is married to Carola Simons and a father of three.

References

External links

* iBiology videos by Kai Simons about

lipids Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins Vitamin A, A, Vitamin D, D, Vitamin E, E and Vitamin K, K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The fu ...

and cellular trafficking *
Part 1: The role of lipids in organizing the cellular traffic.
*
Part 2: Lipid rafts as a membrane organizing principle
*
Part 3: Biogenesis of glycolipid-rich apical membranes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Kai Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Biochemistry educators Finnish businesspeople Living people Finnish biochemists Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Finnish expatriates in West Germany Finnish expatriates in the United States Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony Schleiden Medal recipients Finnish emigrants to Germany Year of birth missing (living people)