Jean-Pierre Lecocq

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Jean-Pierre Lecocq (approx. 1990)

Jean-Pierre Lecocq (born July 17, 1947 in Gosselies , Belgium , † January 20, 1992 at Mont Sainte-Odile , France ) was a Belgian molecular biologist and entrepreneur.

education

Lecocq grew up in Nivelles and in 1965 received a scholarship to study chemistry at the Free University of Brussels . In 1969 he graduated with honors (grande distinction) . From 1969 he worked on his doctoral thesis in the laboratory of Prof. René Thomas, Département de Biologie Moléculaire, on the interactions between prokaryote ( Escherichia coli ) and virus ( bacteriophage Lambda ). He identified new bacterial genes that lead to the bacterial lysogenic cycle or, on the other hand, to lysis , and he investigated mutants of RNA polymerase . From 1974 to 1975, Lecocq was drafted into the military, but returned to research and completed his doctorate in 1975 with summa cum laude (La plus grande distinction) . Until the beginning of 1977 he worked at the Free University in Brussels as a post-doc (Chargé de Recherche) with short research stays in the USA ( Madison , Wisconsin ) and Canada ( Laval University , Québec ).

Professional background

From 1977 to 1980, in the early years of the rapidly developing genetic engineering , Lecocq was project manager in the genetics department of the pharmaceutical company Smith Kline RIT, in Rixensart , Belgium, where he set up a molecular biology laboratory and carried out research on vaccines against enteropathogenic E. coli Strains and hepatitis B virus.

In 1980 he became Scientific Director of Transgène, one of the first biotech companies in France, founded in 1979 on the initiative of Prof. Pierre Chambon and Dr. Philippe Kourilsky was founded in Strasbourg with the aim of developing new technologies in industrial and biomedical research. In 1984 Lecocq became Vice President and 1990 President of Transgène.

After Transgène was taken over by the Mérieux Group in 1991, Lecocq also became Corporate Director of Research and Development at the Pasteur-Mérieux-Connaught Group, based in Lyon .

Jean-Pierre Lecocq died at the age of 44 in the crash of Air-Inter flight 148 on January 20, 1992 at Mont Sainte-Odile. He left behind his wife Mireille and two children.

Research topics

From 1980 to 1992, Lecocq established French and international collaborations between Transgène, academic institutes and industry.

Under his direction, secretory and non-secretory expression systems for the production of recombinant proteins in E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , baculovirus and mammalian cells in culture as well as recombinant viruses have been developed. A hybridoma laboratory developed monoclonal antibodies for analysis and immunoaffinity purification, and conventional and HPLC methods for downstream purification and analysis of the peptides , proteins and glycoproteins produced were established.

These technologies have been applied to the following projects, among others: concept for a vaccinia virus-based free-range rabies vaccine ( Raboral , awarded the Rhône Poulence Prize for Innovation in November 1991 and used in several countries to vaccinate foxes and raccoons); recombinant variants of factor VIII and factor IX for the treatment of haemophilia A on behalf of the French blood transfusion service CNTS; Vaccine candidates against schistosomiasis , toxoplasmosis and Babesia canis ; recombinant hirudin , α-1-antitrypsin , gamma interferon and interleukins and variants of these proteins; recombinant construction and expression of almost all proteins of HIV-1 , HIV-2 and SIV for mechanistic investigations as well as applications in diagnostics and vaccination studies; Characterization of the α- thrombin receptor; Mechanisms of cystic fibrosis .

Publications

From 1970 to 1991 Jean-Pierre Lecocq published 130 articles. Fifteen other publications appeared from 1992 to 1995 on topics and projects that Lecocq had initiated and worked on.

The following is a selection of some representative publications:

  • JP Lecocq (doctoral thesis) Étude génétique et biochimique de la régulation de la transcription Dépt. de Biologie Moléculaire, Université Libre de Bruxelles (1975)
  • JP Lecocq, C. Dambly, R. Lathe, C. Babinet, A. Bailone, R. Devoret, AM Gathoye, H. Garcia, M. Dewilde and T. Cabezon Nomenclature and location of bacterial mutations modifying the frequency of lysogenization of E coli by lambdoïd phages Molec. Gene. Genet. 145: 63-64 (1976)
  • JP Lecocq, M. Zubowski and R. Lathe Cloning and expression of viral antigens in Escherichia coli and other microorganisms in: Methods in Virology (1984), 7, pp. 121-172, K. Maramorosch, H. Koprowski, eds, Academic Press Inc, Orlando, Florida.
  • M. Courtney, S. Jallat, LH Tessier, A. Benavente, RG Crystal and JP Lecocq Synthesis in E. coli of alpha1-antitrypsin variants of therapeutic potential emphysema and thrombosis Nature 313, pp. 149-151 (1985)
  • H. de la Salle, W. Altenburger, R. Elkaim, K. Dott, A. Dieterlé, R. Drillien, JP Cazenave, P. Tolstoshev and JP Lecocq Active gamma-carboxylated human factor IX expressed using recombinant DNA techniques Nature 316, 268-270 (1985)
  • RP Harvey, E. Degryse, L. Stefanie, F. Schamber, JP Cazenave, M. Courtney, P. Tolstoshev and JP Lecocq Clonig and expression of a cDNA coding for the anticoagulant hirudin from the bloodsucking leech, hirudo medicinalis Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA , 83, pp. 1084-1088 (1986)
  • A. Capron, R. Pierce, JM Balloul, JM Grzych, C. Dissous, P. Sondermeyer and JP Lecocq Protective antigens in experimental schistosomiasis Acta Tropica 44, pp. 63-69 (1987)
  • G. Rautmann, MP Kieny, R. Brandely, K. Dott, M. Girard, L. Montagnier and JP Lecocq HIV-1 core proteins expressed from recombinant vaccinia viruses AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses (1989) 5, pp. 147-57.
  • MP Kieny, JP Lecocq, M. Girard, Y. Rivière, L. Montagnier and R. Lathe Tailoring the human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein to improve immunogenicity in: Vaccines 89 , RA Lerner, H. Ginsberg, RM Chanock, F. Brown, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, pp. 177-183 (1989)
  • JP Van Eendenburg, M. Yagello, M. Girard, MP Kieny, JP Lecocq, E. Muchmore, PN Fultz, Y. Rivière, L. Montagnier and JC Gluckman Cell-mediated immune proliferative responses to HIV-1 of chimpanzees vaccinated with different vaccinia recombinant viruses AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses (1989) 5, pp. 41-50.
  • T. Faure, A. Pavirani, P. Meulien, H. de la Salle, G. Mignot, H. van de Pol, M. Courtney and JP Lecocq Stable expression of coagulation factors VIII and IX in recombinant chinese hamster ovary cells Advances in Animal Cell Biology and Technology for Bioprocesses (1989), RE Spier, JB Griffiths, J. Stephenne, PJ Crooy, Butterworths, England, pp. 481-487.
  • MF Cesbron-Delauw, B. Guy, G. Torpier, RJ Pierce, G. Lenzen, JY Cesbron, H. Charif, P. Lepage, F. Darcy, JP Lecocq et al. Molecular characterization of a 23-kilodalton major antigen secreted by Toxoplasma gondii Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86, pp. 7537-7541 (1989)
  • B. Brochier, MP Kieny, F. Costy, P. Coppens, B. Bauduin, JP Lecocq, B. Languet, G. Chappuis, P. Desmettre, K. Afiademanyo, R. Libois and PP Pastoret Large-scale eradication of rabies using recombinant vaccinia-rabies vaccine Nature 354, pp. 520-522 (1991)
  • MA Rosenfeld, W. Siegfried, K. Yoshimura, K. Yoneyama, M. Fukayama, LE Stier, PK Paakko, P. Gilardi, LD Stratford-Perricaudet, M. Perricaudet, S. Jallat, A. Pavirani, JP Lecocq and RG Crystal Adenovirus-Mediated transfer of a recombinant alpha-1-antitrypsin gene to the lung epithelium in vivo Science , 252, 431-434 (1991)
  • UB Rasmussen, V. Vouret-Craviari, S. Jallat, Y. Schlesinger, G. Pages, A. Pavirani, JP Lecocq, J. Pouyssegur and E. Van Obberghen-Schilling cDNA cloning and expression of a hamster alpha-thrombin receptor coupled to Ca2 + mobilization FEBS Lett . 288, pp. 123-128 (1991)
  • JM Reichart, I. Petit, M. Legrain, JL Dimarq, E. Keppi, JP Lecocq, JA Hoffmann and T. Achstetter Expression and Secretion in Yeast of Active Insect Defensin, an Inducible Antibacterial Peptide from the Fleshfly Phormia terranovae Invert. Reprod. and Dev., 21, pp. 15-24 (1992)
  • MA Rosenfeld, K. Yoshimura, BC Trapnell, K. Yoneyama, ER Rosenthal, W. Dalemans, M. Fukayama, J. Bargon, LE Stier, LD Stratford-Perricaudet, M. Perricaudet, WB Guggino, A. Pavirani, JP Lecocq and RG Crystal In vivo Transfer of the Human Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Gene to Airway Epithelium Cell , 68, pp. 143-155 (1992)

editor

Lecocq was editor (or co-editor) of the following journals:

Memberships

Lecocq was a member of the following organizations

  • Société Belge de Biochimie since 1970
  • European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) since 1985
  • Conseil Scientifique of the Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) since 1986
  • Adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva since 1986
  • Comité National de Biochimie: Section des Représentants Français des Industries Biologiques et Biochimiques since 1986
  • Conseil Scientifique de l'Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg since 1986
  • Conseil Scientifique de l'Association Française de Médecine Préventive since 1986
  • Comité d'Orientation de la Délégation Régionale de l'ANVAR France since 1986
  • Comité Académique des Applications de la Science (CADAS) since 1988

Jean-Pierre Lecocq Foundation

"Jean-Pierre has left us, victim of the Strasbourg airplane accident. This is a tragedy and an immense loss for our Institute. He was a friend for many of us. For all of us he leaves a memory of a warm, simple, generous man and one of a great scientist recognized and appreciated worldwide. "

- Alain Mérieux

The Fondation Jean-Pierre Lecocq was set up in 1992 to honor life's work and human beings. Since 1994 (and until 2020) it has awarded a prize every two years for “new and important research results in molecular biology and its applications” .

swell

  • Obituary in Molecular Microbiology (1992) 6 (11), pp. 1577-1578
  • P. Chambon, M. Courtney, P. Kourilsky, R. Lathe (1992) In Memoriam. Jean-Pierre Lecocq, 1947-1992 Gene 118, pp 1-2
  • R. Lathe (1992) Jean-Pierre Lecocq: A Personal Tribute Gene 118, pp. 3-4
  • F. Horaud (1992) Obituary: Jean-Pierre Lecocq, 1947-1992 Biologicals 20, p. 89
  • Transgène SA archive, Boulevard Gonthier d'Andernach, Parc d'Innovation, F-67405 Illkirch Graffenstaden Cedex, France

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mérieuscope, no. 88, March 1992
personal data
SURNAME Lecocq, Jean-Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian molecular biologist and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Gosselies , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1992
Place of death on Mont Sainte-Odile , France