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Jacques van Boom (1937–2004): Biopolymers

2004; Wiley; Volume: 43; Issue: 40 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/anie.200461883

1521-3773

C. A. A. VAN BOECKEL,

Jacques H. van Boom, emeritus professor of bioorganic chemistry at Leiden University, passed away on July 31, 2004 at the age of 67, after a short illness.1 After obtaining his PhD “cum laude” in 1968 at the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) under the guidance of Lambert Brandsma and Josef Arens, Jacques van Boom continued his training at the University of Cambridge (UK), where he was a Ramsay Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Lord Todd from 1968 until 1970. He started his independent career at Leiden University in 1970 as a lecturer and became Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry in 1978. After his retirement in June 2002, he remained actively involved in teaching and research as scientific advisor of the Faculty of Sciences at Leiden University. Jacques van Boom supervised over 60 PhD students and numerous undergraduate students. He authored over 750 scientific publications, with more than 25 000 citations. In 1981, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW). He received several prestigious scientific awards, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV, 1975), the Royal Shell Award (1985), the Simon Stevin Master Award (1999), and the Akzo Nobel Science Award (2000). Throughout his scientific career, van Boom devoted his skills as a bioorganic chemist to the elucidation of complex processes involving biopolymers, such as DNA, RNA, carbohydrates, and peptides. Early on he recognized the tremendous power of organic chemistry for the preparation of fragments of these biopolymers and synthetic analogues. In the selection of his research objectives he always felt that, rather than pursuing the synthesis of complex molecules, the prime objective of the organic chemist should be to create compounds with unique properties—properties that facilitate biophysical, pharmaceutical, and biological research. Jacques van Boom started his independent research career with the pursuit of synthetic strategies towards DNA oligomers. At the time he became active in the field, in the mid-1970s, the successful synthesis of even small DNA oligomers was a tremendous scientific challenge. He maintained a preeminent position in the field of DNA synthesis through the development of a series of new phosphorylation1 and protecting-group2 techniques. By applying these novel technologies he provided the scientific community in the 1970s and early 1980s with literally hundreds of very pure DNA and RNA fragments,3 of which multimilligram amounts could be prepared. Many exciting discoveries were made with these synthetic oligomers. One highlight, achieved in collaboration with Alex Rich (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), was the first crystal structure at atomic resolution of a defined DNA duplex, which led to the discovery of Z-DNA as a new type of left-handed duplex DNA.4 Another was the elucidation of the mode of action of the DNA-targeting antibiotic bleomycin,5 in collaboration with Sidney Hecht (University of Virginia, USA). In the early 1980s van Boom widened his horizons and tackled a variety of synthetic challenges in the preparation of oligomeric fragments of other biopolymers, such as peptides and carbohydrates, but also hybrid structures with nucleotides (nucleopeptides, glycosylated nucleotides). He started a program in collaboration with the Dutch biochemist Piet Borst (Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam) to evaluate the role of a specific glycosylated nucleobase, denominated J (β-glucosylated 5-hydroxymethyldeoxyuridine), as present in the genome of the human pathogen Tryptanosoma brucei (the causative of African sleeping sickness).6 In collaboration with Eckard Wimmer (State University of New York, USA) a breakthrough in our understanding of the replication mechanism of the poliovirus was achieved. Key to this study was the accessibility of specific uridylylated oligopeptide fragments.7 An early highlight in the area of synthetic bacterial vaccines was the development of a synthetic vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), the causative bacteria of pneumonia and meningitis. In collaboration with RIVM (Bilthoven, The Netherlands) and Organon NV, it was shown that these synthetic vaccines are efficacious.8 One of the first reports on automated oligosaccharide synthesis describes research by van Boom and co-workers on the use of polyethylene glycol as the carrier in a solid-phase synthesis of a galactofuranose oligomer.9 Another hallmark in carbohydrate chemistry was the discovery, also in the early 1990s, of a set of activator systems that turn thioglycosides into effective donors for oligosaccharide assembly.10 Jacques van Boom reached his eminent position in bioorganic chemistry through a combination of utter dedication to research, complete confidence in his ability to recognize potential in his students, and his remarkable intuition in selecting his research objectives. It is now 25 years since I started as a student in his research group, where I learned the importance of multidisciplinary research in the life sciences. It was a pleasure and an honor to be an adjunct professor in his group for the last 12 years. I will certainly miss his lively discussions about biology, the synthesis of complex biomacromolecules, the origin of life, the education of students, religion, politics, our private lives, and unreliable sciences. There was never a dull moment with Jacques, who stimulated our creativity with his actions, challenging remarks, and remarkable sense of humor.