George Scheffer

Department of Pathology
Free University Medical Center
De Boelelaan 1117
1081 HV Amsterdam
Tel: +31 20 4444027
Fax: +31 20 4442963

Email: gl.scheffer@vumn.nl

After finishing polytechnic school in 1980, George Scheffer worked for several years at the Department of Immunology of the Stichting Samenwerking Delftse Ziekenhuizen in Delft. In 1988 he started to work on a project on multidrug resistance (MDR) of (tumor) cells at Rik Scheper's lab at the Free University in Amsterdam. Besides work on the classical MDR transporter, the transmembrane transporter P-glycoprotein, emphasis was put on other, new mechanisms and proteins possibly involved in drug resistance. During the project, several monoclonal antibodies were isolated that reacted specifically with proteins upregulated in MDR sublines, compared to their nonresistant parental cells. One of these Mabs was the LRP-56 Mab (1). Using the system of expression cloning it was found that the antigen of the LRP-56 Mab was the human major vault protein (2). This is how he got involved in the vault field. Besides work on the intriguing possible role of vaults in MDR (3), and in fact in any physiological process, he kept in touch with the 'genuine' MDR league and has contributed to studies on novel MDR transporters such as members of the multidrug resistance protein (MRP) 1 family (4) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) (5).

Besides these scientific interests, particularly sports, ranging from skiing to tennis, sailing and horseback riding, take a big part of his attention. Sometimes he dreams of a life on a farm with horses. The woods are nearby, have sand paths to gallop and harbor a beautiful lake. Still, city life is within reach of his speedy blue VW Beetle...

1. Scheper,R.J., Broxterman,H.J., Scheffer,G.L., Kaaijk,P., Dalton,W.S., van Heijningen,T.H., van Kalken,C.K., Slovak,M.L., de Vries,E.G., van der Valk,P., Meijer,C.J., and Pinedo,H.M. Overexpression of a M(r) 110,000 vesicular protein in non-P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance. Cancer Res., 53: 1475-1479, 1993.

2. Scheffer,G.L., Wijngaard,P.L., Flens,M.J., Izquierdo,M.A., Slovak,M.L., Pinedo,H.M., Meijer,C.J., Clevers,H.C., and Scheper,R.J. The drug resistance-related protein LRP is the human major vault protein. Nature Med., 1: 578-582, 1995.

3. Scheffer,G.L., Schroeijers,A.B., Izquierdo,M.A., Wiemer,E.A.C., and Scheper,R.J. Lung resistance-related protein/major vault protein and vaults in multidrug-resistant cancer. Curr.Opin.Oncol., 12: 550-556, 2000.

4. Scheffer,G.L., Kool,M., Heijn,M., de Haas,M., Pijnenborg,A.C.L.M., Wijnholds,J., van Helvoort,A., de Jong,M.C., Hooijberg,J.H., Mol,C.A.A.M., van der Linden,M., de Vree,J.M.L., van der Valk,P., Oude Elferink,R.P.J., Borst,P., and Scheper,R.J. Specific detection of multidrug resistance proteins MRP1, MRP2, MRP3, MRP5 and MDR3 P-glycoprotein with a panel of monoclonal antibodies. Cancer Res., 60: 5269-5277, 2000.

5. Scheffer,G.L., Maliepaard,M., Pijnenborg,A.C.L.M., van Gastelen,M.A., de Jong,M.C., Schroeijers,A.B., van der Kolk,D.M., Allen,J.D., Ross,D.D., van der Valk,P., Dalton,W.S., Schellens,J.H.M., and Scheper,R.J. Breast Cancer Resistance Protein is localized at the plasma membrane in mitoxantrone and topotecan resistant cell lines. Cancer Res., 60: 2589-2593, 2000.