Michael Karin

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Michael Karin (born May 25, 1951 in Tel Aviv ) is an Israeli-American molecular biologist who is an internationally recognized expert on the signaling pathways with which the gene expression of the cell is controlled in response to external influences.

Karin studied biology and microbiology at Tel Aviv University from 1972 (Bachelor 1975) and received her doctorate in molecular biology from the University of California, Los Angeles , under Harvey Herschman in 1979 . In his doctoral thesis he investigated the cell regulation of metallothionein , a protein that is produced by cells when heavy metal concentrations are too high and that plays a role in zinc metabolism. He demonstrated the generation of m-RNA for metallothionein in the presence of zinc and dexamethasone . That was the beginning of his future research area of ​​the mechanisms of gene regulation in stressed cells. As a post-doctoral student he was with Beatrice Mintz at the Fox Chase Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia and in 1980 he went to the University of California, San Francisco , to study with John Baxter. In 1982 he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles . Here he pursued his studies on gene regulation using the example of metallothionein production, which he had already investigated in his doctoral thesis. He investigated the effect of various mutations in the cis elements of the promoter region in the metallothionein genes on the response to hormones and metal concentrations. In addition, together with Mordechai Bodner, he developed the first in vitro system for studying the gene expression of cell-typical genes (which previously could only be studied in the cell). He has been Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) since 1986 , where he is currently Professor of Pathology and Pharmacology at the UCSD School of Medicine. Since 1999 he has been the American Cancer Society Research Professor.

Karin is known for his studies of the transmission pathways of external stimuli such as environmental influences, stress and infections, via various hormones and, in the case of inflammation, cytokines on gene expression. He identified transcription factors that play a role (members of the AP-1 / ATF family), and the protein kinase - Cascade (like the June kinases and IKK kinases) that regulate them.

In the 1980s, he and his post-graduate student Peter Angel discovered the role of the AP-1 complex (AP for Activator Protein), a complex of a number of transcription factors such as Jun and Fos, whose genes were known as oncogenes . The function of some oncogenes in normal cells as coding for transcription factors had thus become clear. AP-1 and its gene were also further examined in the laboratory, including the protein kinases (Jun kinases) that regulate this gene complex.

He investigated how the normal signaling path of the cell can go astray in chronic infections, with the development of cancer as a possible consequence. In particular, he investigated the role of NF-κB , the presence of which prevents cell death ( apoptosis ) in inflammation and stimulates the production of growth factors. The identification of the kinases regulating the gene expression of NF-κB led to the identification of the IKK complex in the 1990s. By examining knockout mice , the role of individual IKK components was determined (including the beta component for the suppression of apoptosis). When studying liver cancer in mice, he found that inactivation of IKK-beta and NF-κB led to increased liver cancer, whereas NF-κB suppression led to a prolonged effect of JNK1, a transcription factor that is normally only temporarily in the liver cells in the case of inflammation acted to provide new liver cells to replace dead ones. Blocking JNK1 was able to suppress the development of liver cancer again.

He has published over 300 scientific articles and holds over 30 patents (2010).

In 2010 he received the Harvey Prize , in 2012 the Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research and in 2013 the William B. Coley Award .

He is co-founder of the pharmaceutical company Sigma Pharmaceutical (now Celgene).

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005) and an associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization .

Fonts (selection)

  • Michael Karin: Regulation of metallothionein synthesis in Hela cells by heavy metals and glucocorticoid hormones: a model system for studying regulation of eucaryotic gene expression . Los Angeles, CA 1979, OCLC 6353202 (Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles).
  • Michael Karin: Gene expression: general and cell-type-specific . Birkhäuser, Boston / Basel / Berlin 1993, ISBN 0-8176-3605-6 .
  • Michael Karin: NF-κB in health and disease . Springer Verlag, Heidelberg / New York 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-16017-2 .

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personal data
SURNAME Karin, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli-American molecular biologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Tel Aviv