Kai Simons (born 24 May 1938) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 and ...

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 and ...

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 organised in glycolipoprotein lipid microdomains termed lipid rafts. Their existence in cellular membranes remains somewhat controversial. ...

, as well as 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 ins ...

'' and proposed its role in protein and lipid sorting. The co-founder and co-organizer of

EMBO Embo ( gd, Eurabol, IPA: �iaɾəpɔɫ̪ is a village in the Highland Council Area in Scotland and the former postal county of Sutherland, about north-northeast of Dornoch. On 16 July 1988, Embo declared itself independent from the rest of the ...

, ELSO, Simons initiated the foundation of

MPI-CBG __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. More than twenty research groups work in m ...

, where he acted as a director (1998–2006) and a group-leader (until 2012). He is the co-founder and co-owner of Lipotype GmbH.

Biography

Kai Simons is the son of a

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its 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 which r ...

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 ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

, Simons spent a summer internship in the

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

laboratory of

Bengt Samuelsson Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson (born 21 May 1934) is 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 substances. Education a ...

There, he studied mechanisms of

vitamin B12 Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. It is one of eight B vitamins. It is required by animals, which use it as a cofactor in DNA synthesis, in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. It ...

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 see ...

, 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). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

in New York City where he worked between 1966 and 1967 on

blood serum Serum () is the fluid and solute 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 includes all proteins not u ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

polymorphism. He 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 Leevi is a village in Veriora Parish, Põlva County in southeastern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from F ...

and

Ossi Renkonen Ossi may refer to: Organizations * Open Source Seed Initiative, dedicated to maintaining access to plant genetic resources * Open Source Software Institute, promoter of open-source software solutions in the US Federal, state and municipal governm ...

, 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 university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, the group started investigating a

Semliki Forest virus The 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. ...

, introduced to Simons by Kääriäinenem. In 1975 Simons came to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

(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 27 member states, two prospect states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in 1974 and ...

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 presented the concept of

. In 1999 he took part in setting up ELSO (later incorporated into

), which later he presided over. He was one of the initiators of establishing and building

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. More than twenty research groups work in m ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

(Germany), where he moved. Formally from 1998 (beginning of MPI-CBG construction) and practically from 2000 he was one of five institute's directors and also a group leader there Since 2006 he is a ''director emeritus''. In 2012 he started-up a

biotech company Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

Lipotype GmbH, where he is a CEO. He is married to Carola Simons and a father of three: twins – Mikael (

neurobiologist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial c ...

) and Katja ( sociologist), and the youngest of three, Matias (physician).

Work

Early in his career, Kai 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: ...

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. B ...

and its

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

composition and their role in the virus budding and its transport, as the model for lipid and protein secretion. 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 Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia * Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring *Life-cycle hypothesis ...

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 one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...

model cells – MDCK (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 (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...

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, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' 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 series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results in a cellula ...

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, 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 structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

, especially in

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. His scientific record includes more than 350

scientific article : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

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, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, Germany * 1989 Lamport Visiting Professor (Columbia, New York) * 1990 Histochemical Society Lecture * 1990 Keith R. Porter Lecture,

American Society of Cell Biology The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960.Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

* 1996 Foreign Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) 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 ...

* 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 Europea ...

* 1997 Adam Neville Lecture,

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, UK * 1997 Foreign Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

, USA * 1997 Runeberg Prize, Finland * 1998

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

* 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 land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

* 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 hon ...

University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) 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 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...

, 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 The Schleiden Medal is an award given by the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the National Academy of Germany, to honour outstanding achievements in the field of cellular biology. The award is named after botanist Matthias Jakob Schleiden. Recipie ...

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 german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

* 2003 Prix Mondial Nessim Habif,

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

, 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. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, 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 The Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony (german: Sächsischer Verdienstorden) is a civil order of merit, and the highest award of the German state of Saxony. First presented in 1997, it is awarded by the Minister-President of Saxony. The ...

* 2010 Doctor honoris causa,

University of Kuopio The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

, Finland * 2011 Doctor honoris causa,

, Switzerland * 2016

Robert Koch Medal The Robert Koch Medal and Award are two prizes awarded annually by the German for excellence in the biomedical sciences. These awards grew out of early attempts by German physician Robert Koch to generate funding to support his research into the ...

Kai Simons was and is also a member of numerous societies, committees and organisations, as well as an editor for several scientific journals.

References

External links

* iBiology videos by Kai Simons about

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

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 1938 births 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