Hartmut Oschkinat (born 28 February 1957) is a German structural biologist and professor for chemistry at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. His research focuses on the study of biological systems with

solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) is a spectroscopy technique used to characterize atomic-level structure and dynamics in solid materials. ssNMR spectra are broader due to nuclear spin interactions which can be categorized as dipolar ...

. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the ''

Journal of Biomolecular NMR The ''Journal of Biomolecular NMR'' publishes research on technical developments and innovative applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the study of structure and dynamic properties of biopolymers in solution, liquid crystals, s ...

'' and ''

Structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

''.

Life and career

Oschkinat studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University of Frankfurt. He received his doctoral degree in 1986 under the supervision of Horst Kessler with the title "Analysis of the conformation of Cyclosporin in solution using NMR-spectroscopy: development and use of new methods." in the field of

nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of Atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear sp ...

(NMR). After his work as a

postdoctoral researcher 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 acade ...

with Geoffrey Bodenhausen at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

, Oschkinat moved to the

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (; abbreviated MPIB) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society located in Martinsried, a suburb of Munich. The institute was founded in 1973 by the merger of three formerly independent institute ...

in Martinsried in 1987 as a post-doc in the Lab of

Marius Clore G. Marius Clore MAE, FRSC, FMedSci, FRS is a British-born, Anglo-American molecular biophysicist and structural biologist. He was born in London, U.K. and is a dual U.S./U.K. Citizen. He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fe ...

and Angela Gronenborn. There, he was working with

, Angela Gronenborn and the Nobel laureate

Robert Huber Robert Huber (; born 20 February 1937) is a German biochemist and Nobel laureate. known for his work crystallizing an intramembrane protein important in photosynthesis and subsequently applying X-ray crystallography to elucidate the protein's st ...

. After his habilitation at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

in 1992, Hartmut Oschkinat moved to 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 ...

in Heidelberg. Since 1998, he is the head of the department NMR-supported Structural Biology at the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie in Berlin.

Research

At the beginning of his career, Oschkinat worked in the field of solution-state NMR, and made fundamental contributions to establish the role of multidimensional NMR spectroscopy in

structural biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

. After using solution-state NMR spectroscopy to determine three-dimensional structures of soluble proteins such as the

pleckstrin homology domain Pleckstrin homology domain (PH domain) or (PHIP) is a protein domain of approximately 120 amino acids that occurs in a wide range of proteins involved in intracellular signaling or as constituents of the cytoskeleton. This domain can bind phosph ...

and the

WW domain The WW domain (also known as the rsp5-domain or WWP repeating structural motif, motif) is a modular protein domain that mediates specific interactions with protein ligands. This domain is found in a number of unrelated signaling and structural pro ...

, characterise protein–protein interactions involving the latter, with applications in fragment-based drug discovery, he moved on to focus on the investigation of biological systems by

solid-state NMR Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) is a spectroscopy technique used to characterize atomic-level structure and dynamics in solid materials. ssNMR spectra are broader due to nuclear spin interactions which can be categorized as dipolar ...

(ssNMR) with

magic angle spinning In solid-state NMR spectroscopy, magic-angle spinning (MAS) is a technique routinely used to produce better resolution NMR spectra. MAS NMR consists in spinning the sample (usually at a frequency of 1 to 130 kHz) at the magic angle θm (ca ...

. His group was the first to solve a

protein structure Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid ...

using ssNMR; the structure solved was that of a microcrystalline preparation of a

SH3 domain The SRC Homology 3 Domain (or SH3 domain) is a small protein domain of about 60 amino acid residues. Initially, SH3 was described as a conserved sequence in the viral adaptor protein v-Crk. This domain is also present in the molecules of ph ...

. Since 2005, his research group investigates complex biomolecular systems such as

membrane proteins Membrane proteins are common proteins that are part of, or interact with, biological membranes. Membrane proteins fall into several broad categories depending on their location. Integral membrane proteins are a permanent part of a cell membrane ...

within the native lipid environment,

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a β-sheet secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human ...

fibrils, and

oligomers In chemistry and biochemistry, an oligomer () is a molecule that consists of a few repeating units which could be derived, actually or conceptually, from smaller molecules, monomers.Quote: ''Oligomer molecule: A molecule of intermediate relativ ...

. Moreover, he develops methods to address challenging questions in

where ssNMR can be applied with particular advantages, and have made particular contributions to the development of

dynamic nuclear polarisation Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is one of several Hyperpolarization (physics), hyperpolarization methods developed to enhance the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. While an essential analytical tool with application ...

and proton detection using fast magic angle spinning.

Notable Achievements

* 1998: elected to membership of the

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 ...

. * 2009–2011: Acting Director of the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie. * 2012: International Scientific Review Board for the

Central European Institute of Technology The Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) () is an educational and research institution in Brno, Czech Republic. It is a centre specialising in Life Sciences, life sciences, Materials science, advanced materials and nanotechnology re ...

in Brno, Czech Republic. * 2013: elected to honorary membership of the National Magnetic Resonance Society of India. * 2014: one of six awardees of the

Günther Laukien Prize The Günther Laukien Prize is a prize presented at the Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference "to recognize recent cutting-edge experimental NMR research with a high probability of enabling beneficial new applications". The prize was est ...

, awarded annually at the Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference in the USA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oschkinat, Hartmut 20th-century German chemists 20th-century German biologists German biophysicists Goethe University Frankfurt alumni 1957 births Living people 21st-century German chemists