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A prolific biochemist, biotech entrepreneur, and investor, Springer is firmly dedicated to basic research.

“Out of the deep biology my colleagues and I have discovered, new drugs to treat patients have been approved and new companies have been founded,” he told the Lasker Foundation. “Although I have accepted the challenges of entrepreneurship and philanthropy, I am first and foremost a scientist, and discovery is still what I love most.”

Springer’s Research at the ǧ����Ƶ

It was basic research that first drew Springer to the ǧ����Ƶ. In 2012, a postdoctoral fellow in Springer’s lab, Pontus Nordenfelt, took the ǧ����Ƶ Physiology course, then co-directed by of the National Institutes of Health. Waterman tried an experiment in the course to visualize cell migration using a novel microscope developed at MBL that allows one to see how molecules are spatially aligned, including on the cell surface.

Springer and Waterman then began discussing whether the microscope, the TIRF PolScope, could help in Springer’s research. He had already shown that integrins unfurl, like an arm stretching out, when they’re activated to attach the cell to its external environment. But what causes the integrins to unfurl?

Springer and Waterman thought it might be the pull of dynamic filaments inside the cell (the actin cytoskeleton), which bind to the integrins. Waterman applied for and received a Lillie Award from the University of Chicago/MBL to pursue this question with Springer, microscopists Tomomi Tani, Rudolf Oldenbourg, and Shalin Mehta, and other collaborators in the ǧ����Ƶ Whitman Center from 2014—2016.

Their results were exciting. “We’ve found, no doubt, that the integrins are aligned [by the forces of the actin cytoskeleton],” Springer said.  “It’s quite remarkable that you can [measure] that with a microscope. I don’t know of any other examples where people have actually measured the orientation of a cell surface molecule.”

The scientists reported their findings in two papers in 2017, one in and one in .

“This is really beautiful basic research,” Springer said. “While we knew a lot about highly purified integrins in solution, this research gives us specific information about their activation state in living cells.”

“Tim’s career-long pursuit of scientific discovery makes him an outstanding role model for the entire ǧ����Ƶ scientific community, and we are proud to have him as a member of the ǧ����Ƶ Board,” said MBL Director Nipam Patel. “His substantial contributions to the field of cell biology and its applications to disease treatment are a testament to the power of basic and biomedical science.”

Resources:

(2021)

MBL Catalyst story on Springer-MBL research collaboration  (2014)

(2014)

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The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery – exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the ǧ����Ƶ is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the .