Sjors Hendrik Willem Scheres
FRS (born 1975) is a Dutch scientist at the
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...
Cambridge, UK.
Education
Scheres studied Chemistry at
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...
in The Netherlands, and spent nine months at the
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a joint research facility situated in Grenoble, France, supported by 22 countries (13 member countries: France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, ...
in France for his undergraduate research thesis. He then came back to
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...
for his
DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in
Protein Crystallography
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
, which was supervised by Piet Gros.
Career
Scheres worked 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). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
at the
Spanish National Center for Biotechnology (CNB) with José Maria Carazo from 2003-2010, where he developed classification algorithms for
Cryogenic electron microscopy
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a cryomicroscopy technique applied on samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An aqueous sample so ...
(cryo-EM) images based on
Maximum likelihood estimation
In statistics, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method of estimating the parameters of an assumed probability distribution, given some observed data. This is achieved by maximizing a likelihood function so that, under the assumed stati ...
.
In 2010 Scheres was appointed as a group leader at the
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...
, Cambridge. There, he extended his maximum-likelihood methods to a general
Empirical Bayes method
Empirical Bayes methods are procedures for statistical inference in which the prior probability distribution is estimated from the data. This approach stands in contrast to standard Bayesian methods, for which the prior distribution is fixed ...
for
Protein structure
Protein structure is the molecular geometry, three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, the monomers of the polymer. A single ami ...
determination by cryo-EM,
which he implemented in the computer program RELION.
In 2020, Scheres and collaborators used RELION to reach atomic resolution for a cryo-EM reconstruction of apo-
Ferritin
Ferritin is a universal intracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. The protein is produced by almost all living organisms, including archaea, bacteria, algae, higher plants, and animals. It is the primary ...
.
Besides developing algorithms for cryo-EM image processing, Scheres has also collaborated with experimental groups to solve important protein structures. For example, Xiaochen Bai, currently at
UTSW
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient vi ...
, in his group solved the structure of human
Gamma secretase
Gamma secretase is a multi-subunit protease complex, itself an integral membrane protein, that cleaves single-pass transmembrane proteins at residues within the transmembrane domain. Proteases of this type are known as intramembrane proteases. Th ...
in a collaboration with
Shi Yigong
Shi Yigong (; born May 1967) is a Chinese biophysicist who serves as founding and the current president of Westlake University since April 2018.
He previously served as vice president of Tsinghua University from 2015 to 2018 and dean of Tsin ...
. Since 2016, Scheres has worked closely together with
Michel Goedert
Michel Goedert FRS, FMedSci is a Luxembourgish-British neuroscientist and former Head of Neurobiology, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Goedert was born and raised in Luxembourg. After finishing his medical studies at the University ...
, who is also at the
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...
. Using cryo-EM image processing methods that were developed by Scheres, they solved the structure of
Amyloid fibrils
Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of 7–13 nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human ...
of
Tau protein
The tau proteins (abbreviated from tubulin associated unit) are a group of six highly soluble protein isoforms produced by alternative splicing from the gene ''MAPT'' (microtubule-associated protein tau). They have roles primarily in maintaining ...
from the brain of an individual with
Alzheimer's disease.
Since then, Scheres and Goedert have also solved the cryo-EM structures of tau filaments from multiple other
Tauopathies
Tauopathy belongs to a class of neurodegenerative diseases involving the aggregation of tau protein into neurofibrillary or gliofibrillary tangles in the human brain. Tangles are formed by hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule protein known ...
,
as well as filaments of
Amyloid beta
Amyloid beta (Aβ or Abeta) denotes peptides of 36–43 amino acids that are the main component of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. The peptides derive from the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which i ...
from
Alzheimer's disease,
Alpha-synuclein
Alpha-synuclein is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''SNCA'' gene. Alpha-synuclein is a neuronal protein that regulates synaptic vesicle trafficking and subsequent neurotransmitter release.
It is abundant in the brain, while smaller a ...
from
Multiple system atrophy
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism) and ataxia. This is caused by p ...
and
TMEM106B Transmembrane protein 106B is a protein that is encoded by the ''TMEM106B'' gene. It is found primarily within neurons and oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system with its subcellular location being in lysosomal membranes. TMEM106B helps faci ...
.
Scheres has been a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors for
eLife
''eLife'' is a not-for-profit, peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal for the biomedical and life sciences. It was established at the end of 2012 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Max Planck Society, and Wellcome Trust, following a ...
since 2014. He has been joint Head of the Division of Structural Studies of the
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...
since 2018. In 2021, he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...
.
Awards
*
Leeuwenhoek Lecture
The Leeuwenhoek Lecture is a prize lecture of the Royal Society to recognize achievement in microbiology. The prize was originally given in 1950 and awarded annually, but from 2006 to 2018 was given triennially. From 2018 it will be awarded bienni ...
of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
(2022)
* Bijvoet medal of the
Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research
The Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research is a research institute at Utrecht University. The Bijvoet Centre performs research on the relation between the structure and function of biomolecules, including proteins and lipids, which play a role ...
(2018)
*Elected
EMBO Member
Membership of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is an award granted by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in recognition of "research excellence and the outstanding achievements made by a life scientist".
, 88 EMB ...
(2017)
* Gold medal KNCV (2015)
*
Nature's 10
''Nature'' 10 is an annual listicle of ten "people who mattered" in science, produced by the scientific journal ''Nature''. Nominees have made a significant impact in science either for good or for bad. Reporters and editorial staff at ''Nature'' ...
who mattered in 2014
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheres, Sjors
1975 births
Living people
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Utrecht University alumni
Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom
Bijvoet Medal recipients
Fellows of the Royal Society