Alfred Vertegaal is professor of Cell Biology and faculty member of the department of Cell and Chemical Biology of the Leiden University Medical Center. His research is supported by innovation grants from the Dutch Research Council (Veni, Vidi, Vici) and the European Research Council.

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Alfred Vertegaal is professor of Cell Biology and faculty member of the department of Cell and Chemical Biology of the Leiden University Medical Center. His research is supported by innovation grants from the Dutch Research Council (Veni, Vidi, Vici) and the European Research Council.

Cell and Chemical Biology

Functional activity of proteins is tightly controlled via reversible post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitylation. These modifications enable the orchestration of cellular responses to a wide variety of stimuli. Due to these modifications, proteomes are overwhelmingly complex. Progress in the field has been greatly accelerated by the development of novel approaches to study these post-translational modifications at a proteome-wide scale using the sensitivity and robustness of mass spectrometry (MS). This has enabled the identification of thousands of dynamically regulated modification sites by MS. 

We are studying post-translational modification by ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like protein SUMO, predominantly found in nuclei of proliferating cells. SUMOylation is critical for eukaryotic life and regulates a wide variety of cellular processes including transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, translation, transport, replication and DNA repair. SUMO inhibition leads to loss of genome integrity, blocks cell cycle progression and activates the immune system. Inhibitors of SUMO signal transduction are currently tested for their potential as novel anti-cancer agents. We are developing proteomics approaches to identify thousands of targets of this post-translational modification. Selected SUMO substrates are studied at the functional level to increase our understanding of the critical roles of SUMO in cell cycle progression, genome maintenance and the immune system. 

Academic career

Alfred Vertegaal studied Biomedical Sciences and carried out his PhD project at the Leiden University. He received his PhD in 2001 for his thesis ‘Molecular analysis of antigen presentation in Ad5- and Ad12-transformed cells’. His academic career is as follows:

2019 – professor LUMC, department of Cell and Chemical Biology.
2011 – 2019 associate professor LUMC, department of Molecular Cell Biology.
2008 – 2011 assistant professor LUMC, department of Molecular Cell Biology.
2004 – 2008 senior scientist LUMC, department of Molecular Cell Biology.
2001 – 2003 Dutch Cancer Society fellow, Wellcome Trust Biocentre, Dundee, U.K.