Martine Smit

Martine J. Smit is professor Target and Systems Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Research of professor Smit focuses on important concepts of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) (e.g. constitutive activity, endosomal signaling, dimerisation), which are important for understanding and targeting of (oncogenic) signaling networks activated by human and viral chemokine receptors. The herpesvirus-encoded GPCRs constitutively activate proliferative and inflammatory signaling pathways, contributing to cancer progression. In the last decade Smit has identified several nanobodies targeting and modulating GPCR function. Formatted (monovalent/multivalent constructs) nanobodies, incorporating different modalities (fluorophores, photosensitizers, effector function) serve as important pharmacological tools to therapeutically target and dissect the role of (viral) chemokine receptors in cancer and viral infection. She was project coordinator of Horizon2020 ITN project ONCORNET (Oncogenic GPCR Network of Excellence and Training) (2015-2019) and is currently coordinating ONCORNET2.0 (2020-2024).