The Unfolded Protein Response and Cellular Stress, Part A

P. Michael Conn is the Senior Vice President for Research and Associate Provost, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. He is The Robert C. Kimbrough, Professor of Internal Medicine and Cell Biology/Biochemistry. He was previously Director of Research Advocacy and Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cell Biology and Development and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oregon Health and Science University and Senior Scientist of the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC). He served for twelve years as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director of the ONPRC. After receiving a B.S. degree and teaching certification from the University of Michigan (1971), a M.S. from North Carolina State University (1973), and a Ph.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine (1976), Conn did a fellowship at the NIH, then joined the faculty in the Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical Center where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1982. In 1984, he became Professor and Head of Pharmacology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, a position he held for eleven years. Conn is known for his research in the area of the cellular and molecular basis of action of gonadotropin releasing hormone action in the pituitary and therapeutic approaches that restore misfolded proteins to function. His work has led to drugs that have benefitted humans and animals. Most recently, he has identified a new class of drugs, pharmacoperones, which act by regulating the intracellular trafficking of receptors, enzymes and ion channels. He has authored or co-authored over 350 publications in this area and written or edited over 200 books, including texts in neurosciences, molecular biology and endocrinology. Conn has served as the editor of many professional journals and book series (Endocrinology, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Endocrine, Methods, Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science and Contemporary Endocrinology). Conn served on the National Board of Medical Examiners, including two years as chairman of the reproduction and endocrinology committee. The work of his laboratory has been recognized with a MERIT award from the NIH, the J.J. Abel Award of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the Weitzman, Oppenheimer and Ingbar Awards of the Endocrine Society, the National Science Medal of Mexico (the Miguel Aleman Prize) and the Stevenson Award of Canada. He is the recipient of the Oregon State Award for Discovery, the Media Award of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and was named a distinguished Alumnus of Baylor College of Medicine in 2012. Conn is a previous member of Council for the American Society for Cell Biology and the Endocrine Society and is a prior President of the Endocrine Society, during which time he founded the Hormone Foundation and worked with political leadership to heighten the public’s awareness of diabetes. Conn’s students and fellows have gone on to become leaders in industry and academia. He is an elected member of the Mexican Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the co-author of The Animal Research War (2008) and many articles for the public and academic community on the value of animal research and the dangers posed by animal extremism. His op/eds have appeared in The Washington Post, The LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Des Moines Register, and elsewhere. Conn consults with organizations that are influenced by animal extremism and with universities and companies facing challenges from these groups.

Section I: UPR and Cell Stress in Normal and Diseased Cells



The Unfolded Protein Response in Mouse Cerebral Cortex Nirinjini Naidoo
Immunohistochemical Detection of the Unfolded Protein Response in Atherosclerotic Plaques Šárka Lhoták and Richard C. Austin
The role of PDI as a survival factor in cardiomyocyte ischemia Stefano Toldo; Anna Severino; Antonio Abbate; Alfonso Baldi
Measurement of the Increase in Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Related Proteins and Genes in Adipose Tissue of Obese, Insulin-Resistant Individuals Guenther Boden and Salim Merali
Measurement of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in monocytes Tomás P. Carroll, Catherine M. Greene, and Noel G. McElvaney
Assessment of Endurance Exercise Training in Hepatic Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Natalie Ann Chapados
Discovery approaches to UPR in athero - susceptible endothelium in vivo Mete Civelek, Elisabetta Manduchi, Gregory Grant, Christian J. Stoeckert Jr, Peter F. Davies
Assessment of endoplasmic reticulum stress and the unfolded protein response in endothelial cells Ines Witte & Sven Horke
Measuring the impact of cigarette smoke on the UPR Hong Zhao, Jin Yang, Lin Shan and Ellen D. Jorgensen
Induction and measurement of UPR and osmotic stress in the yeast Pichia pastoris Martin Dragosits, Diethard Mattanovich and Brigitte Gasser
Induction of ER stress response leading to programmed cell death in Trypanosoma brucei Hanoch Goldshmidt and Shulamit Michaeli
Measurement of Activation of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response in Autoimmune Myositis Heather M. Alger, Sree Rayavarapu and Kanneboyina Nagaraju
Activation of the unfolded protein response in human acute myeloid leukemia Julian A. Schardt , Beatrice U. Mueller and Thomas Pabst
Modulation of the Unfolded Protein Response by GRP78 in Prostate Cancer Gustaaf de Ridder, Rupa Ray, Uma K. Misra and Salvatore V. Pizzo
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress In Brain Damage Ram Raghubir, Venkata Prasuja Nakka, and Suresh L. Mehta
Methods and Models for Monitoring UPR associated Macrophage Death during Advanced Atherosclerosis Edward B. Thorp
Detecting Autophagy in Response to ER Stress Signals in Cancer Guillermo Velasco, María Salazar, Sonia Hernández-Tiedra, Sofía Torres, Mar Lorente, Manuel Guzmán
The Unfolded Protein Response Induced By Salt Stress in Arabidopsis Miaoying Wang, Qiangyi Xu, and Ming Yuan
Measurement of ER Stress Response and Inflammation in the Mouse Model of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Ze Zheng , Chunbin Zhang, Kezhong Zhang