Biography
Prof. Dr. John Kennis earned a PhD in Biophysics in 1997 at Leiden University, after which he became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley from 1998 to 2000 on a HFSP fellowship. He moved to the Vrije Universiteit in 2000 on a postdoctoral position, and after receiving a NWO-VIDI fellowship in 2004 he obtained a tenured Assistant Professor position at the Vrije Universiteit in 2007. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010, and after obtaining a NWO-VICI fellowship in 2012 he was appointed as Full Professor in 2016.
Research description
Our research involves the physico-chemical mechanisms of reception, storage and processing of photic energy and information in biology. To this end, we employ and further develop advanced time-resolved spectroscopic techniques such as transient absorption, time-resolved infrared, stimulated Raman, multi-pulse and 2-dimensional infrared spectroscopy.
We have developed a research program to understand the dynamic-structural basis of light-mediated signal transduction at the molecular level, from initiation by a flash of light to propagation of information-encoding structural changes in photosensory receptor proteins, thereby focusing on newly discovered photoreceptor proteins from a wide range of organisms with a high potential for practical applications.
An important objective is to arrive at a dynamic structural-mechanistic view of photoreceptor activation that can be utilized in developing optogenetic switches and sensors, to be used in cell biology, neuroscience and tissue imaging. We study the physical-chemical basis of regulatory phenomena in photosynthetic light harvesting, thereby focusing on the role of carotenoids in dissipative energy transfer processes and protein structural transitions that underlie dynamic light harvesting functions.
Selected publications
- A. Silapetere, S. Hwang, Y. Hontani, R.G. Fernandez Lahore, J. Balke, F. Velazquez Escobar, M. Tros, P.E. Konold, R. Matis, R. Croce, P.J. Walla, P. Hildebrandt, U. Alexiev, J.T.M. Kennis, H. Sun, Ti. Utesch, P. Hegemann Nature Communications 2022, 13, 1-20. QuasAr Odyssey: the origin of fluorescence and its voltage sensitivity in microbial rhodopsins
- M. Krishnan-Schmieden, P.E. Konold, J.T.M. Kennis, A. Pandit Nature Communications 2021, 12, 2291 The molecular pH-response mechanism of the plant light-stress sensor PsbS
- J.M.A. Vivancos, I.H.M. van Stokkum, F. Saccon, Y. Hontani, M. Kloz, A. Ruban, R. van Grondelle, J.T.M. Kennis JACS 2020, 142, 17346-17355 Unraveling the Excited-State Dynamics and Light-Harvesting Functions of Xanthophylls in Light-Harvesting Complex II Using Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy
- P.E. Konold, E. Arik, J. Weissenborn, J.C. Arents, K.J. Hellingwerf, I.H.M. van Stokkum, J.T.M. Kennis, M.L. Groot, Nature Communications 2020, 11, 4248 Confinement in crystal lattice alters entire photocycle pathway of the Photoactive Yellow Protein
- Y. Hontani, M. Broser, M. Luck, J. Weissenborn, M. Kloz, P. Hegemann, J.T.M. Kennis, JACS 2020, 142, 11464-11473 Dual Photoisomerization on Distinct Potential Energy Surfaces in a UV-Absorbing Rhodopsin
- P.E. Konold, I.H.M. van Stokkum, F. Muzzopappa, A, Wilson, M.L. Groot, D. Kirilovsky, J.T.M. Kennis JACS 2019, 141, 520-530 Photoactivation Mechanism, Timing of Protein Secondary Structure Dynamics and Carotenoid Translocation in the Orange Carotenoid Protein
