Stuart C. Sealfon
Encyclopedia
Stuart C. Sealfon, M.D., is an American
neurologist
who studies the mechanisms of both the therapeutic
and adverse effect
s of drugs
. He was an early adopter of the use of massively parallel qPCR
and fluorescent in situ hybridization
to characterize cell response state and his research accomplishments have included the identification of the primary structure of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor
, finding new signaling pathways activated by drugs for Parkinson's disease
, elucidating the mechanism of action of hallucinogens
and finding a new brain receptor complex implicated in schizophrenia
as a novel target for antipsychotic
s.
Sealfon is the Glickenhaus Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
in New York City
. Sealfon also serves as director of Mount Sinai's Center for Translational Systems Biology. Additionally, he is both Professor of Neurobiology and Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics.
Sealfon is the author of multiple book chapters and is the editor of Receptor Molecular Biology, Volume 25 (ISBN 0121852954). He has contributed to more than 100 original research articles and holds two patents.
from Princeton University
in 1978 and received the thesis award in comparative literature
. He received his M.D. in 1982 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
, where he was selected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
. He completed an internship in medicine in 1983 and a residency in neurology
in 1986 at Massachusetts General Hospital
. After completing a fellowship in neuroscience
at the Mount Sinai Medical Center
, he was named Assistant Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1988.
Sealfon has served on the editorial boards of Endocrinology
, Endocrine Journal
, Molecular Endocrinology
and the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine
and served as reviewing editor of Biochemical Journal
. Additionally, he served on the advisory board of the Alanex Corporation.
Sealfon's work is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
. He directs the multi-institutional Program for Research on Immune Modeling and Experimentation (PRIME), an NIH-funded Modeling Immunity for the Biodefense Center. Through the Sealfon Laboratory and The Mount Sinai Medical Center, he oversees research on human hallucinogenic drugs of abuse, immune cell signaling, and gonadotrope
signaling.
Sealfon's daughter Rebecca won the 1997 Scripps National Spelling Bee
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
neurologist
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
who studies the mechanisms of both the therapeutic
Therapeutic effect
A therapeutic effect is a consequence of a medical treatment of any kind, the results of which are judged to be desirable and beneficial. This is true whether the result was expected, unexpected, or even an unintended consequence of the treatment...
and adverse effect
Adverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
s of drugs
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
. He was an early adopter of the use of massively parallel qPCR
Real-time polymerase chain reaction
In molecular biology, real-time polymerase chain reaction, also called quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction or kinetic polymerase chain reaction , is a laboratory technique based on the PCR, which is used to amplify and simultaneously quantify a targeted DNA molecule...
and fluorescent in situ hybridization
Fluorescent in situ hybridization
FISH is a cytogenetic technique developed by biomedical researchers in the early 1980s that is used to detect and localize the presence or absence of specific DNA sequences on chromosomes. FISH uses fluorescent probes that bind to only those parts of the chromosome with which they show a high...
to characterize cell response state and his research accomplishments have included the identification of the primary structure of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor
The gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor , also known as the luteinizing hormone releasing hormone receptor , is a member of the seven-transmembrane, G-protein coupled receptor family...
, finding new signaling pathways activated by drugs for Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, elucidating the mechanism of action of hallucinogens
Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants
This general group of pharmacological agents can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness...
and finding a new brain receptor complex implicated in schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
as a novel target for antipsychotic
Antipsychotic
An antipsychotic is a tranquilizing psychiatric medication primarily used to manage psychosis , particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A first generation of antipsychotics, known as typical antipsychotics, was discovered in the 1950s...
s.
Sealfon is the Glickenhaus Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine is an American medical school in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, currently ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the United States. It was chartered by Mount Sinai Hospital in 1963....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Sealfon also serves as director of Mount Sinai's Center for Translational Systems Biology. Additionally, he is both Professor of Neurobiology and Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics.
Sealfon is the author of multiple book chapters and is the editor of Receptor Molecular Biology, Volume 25 (ISBN 0121852954). He has contributed to more than 100 original research articles and holds two patents.
Biography
Sealfon was born in 1956 in New York City. He graduated Magna Cum Laude Phi Beta KappaPhi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1978 and received the thesis award in comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
. He received his M.D. in 1982 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
, where he was selected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Alpha Omega Alpha
The Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, commonly called Alpha Omega Alpha and abbreviated ΑΩΑ or AOA, is a national honor society for medical students, residents, scientists and physicians in the United States and Canada.-History:...
. He completed an internship in medicine in 1983 and a residency in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
in 1986 at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
. After completing a fellowship in neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
at the Mount Sinai Medical Center
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. In 2011-2012, Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked as one of America's best hospitals by U.S...
, he was named Assistant Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1988.
Sealfon has served on the editorial boards of Endocrinology
Endocrinology (journal)
Endocrinology is a biomedical scientific journal published by The Endocrine Society. It is the Society's oldest journal and was first published in 1917. Dealing with the science of endocrinology among its topics are growth factors, steroids, the thyroid, and physiology...
, Endocrine Journal
Endocrine Journal
Endocrine Journal is a peer reviewed medical journal published by the Japan Endocrine Society.The journal was first published in 1954 under the title Endocrinologia Japonica, and was renamed to its current title in 1993 starting from Volume 40....
, Molecular Endocrinology
Molecular Endocrinology
Molecular Endocrinology is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research on the molecular processes of hormones....
and the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine
Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine
The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal that has been published continually since 1934 by the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, later by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine....
and served as reviewing editor of Biochemical Journal
Biochemical Journal
The Biochemical Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology...
. Additionally, he served on the advisory board of the Alanex Corporation.
Sealfon's work is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a United States federal-government research institute whose mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."-History:...
, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health...
and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health , an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
. He directs the multi-institutional Program for Research on Immune Modeling and Experimentation (PRIME), an NIH-funded Modeling Immunity for the Biodefense Center. Through the Sealfon Laboratory and The Mount Sinai Medical Center, he oversees research on human hallucinogenic drugs of abuse, immune cell signaling, and gonadotrope
Gonadotrope
Gonadotropes are endocrine cells in the anterior pituitary that produce the gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone...
signaling.
Sealfon's daughter Rebecca won the 1997 Scripps National Spelling Bee
Grants
A partial list of current grant support includes the following:- GnRH Receptor Signaling Specificity, NIH, RO1 DK46943-14
- Mechanisms of Hallucinogens, NIH, PO1 DA12923-07
- Modeling Immunity for Biodefense, NO1 AI 50021
Patents
- 1998, U.S. #5,750,366, Cloning and Expression of Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Receptor
- 1999, U.S. #5,985,583, Applications of GnRH Receptor
Publications
Partial list:- Yuen, T., F. Ruf, T. Chu, and S.C. Sealfon, Microtranscriptome regulation by gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Mol Cell Endocrinol, 2009. 302(1): p. 12-7. PMID 19356622
- Sugar, I.P. and S.C. Sealfon, Model of autocrine/paracrine signaling in epithelial layer: geometrical regulation of intercellular communication. J Phys Chem B, 2009. 113(31): p. 10946-56. PMID 19601596
- Gonzalez-Maeso, J. and S.C. Sealfon, Psychedelics and schizophrenia. Trends Neurosci, 2009. 32(4): p. 225-32. PMID 19269047
- Gonzalez-Maeso, J., R.L. Ang, T. Yuen, P. Chan, N.V. Weisstaub, J.F. Lopez-Gimenez, M. ZhouMing-Ming ZhouMing-Ming Zhou, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in structural and chemical biology, NMR spectroscopy of protein structure-function and rational small-molecule design. He is currently the Dr...
, Y. Okawa, L.F. Callado, G. Milligan, J.A. Gingrich, M. Filizola, J.J. Meana, and S.C. Sealfon, Identification of a serotonin/glutamate receptor complex implicated in psychosis. Nature, 2008. 452(7183): p. 93-7. PMID 18297054 - Borderia, A.V., B.M. Hartmann, A. Fernandez-Sesma, T.M. Moran, and S.C. Sealfon, Antiviral-activated dendritic cells: a paracrine-induced response state. J Immunol, 2008. 181(10): p. 6872-81. PMID 18981106
- Ruf, F., F. Hayot, M.J. Park, Y. Ge, G. Lin, B. Roysam, and S.C. Sealfon, Noise propagation and scaling in regulation of gonadotrope biosynthesis. Biophys J, 2007. 93(12): p. 4474-80. PMID 17720728
- Hu, J., S.C. Sealfon, F. Hayot, C. Jayaprakash, M. Kumar, A.C. Pendleton, A. Ganee, A. Fernandez-Sesma, T.M. Moran, and J.G. Wetmur, Chromosome-specific and noisy IFNB1 transcription in individual virus-infected human primary dendritic cells. Nucleic Acids Res, 2007. 35(15): p. 5232-41. PMID:17675303
- Grisotto MG, Garin A, Martin AP, Jensen KK, Chan P, Sealfon SC, Lira SASergio A. LiraSergio A. Lira, M.D., PhD., is an immunologist who pioneered the use of genetic approaches to study the function of chemokines. His early studies were the first to show that chemokines played a major role on leukocyte trafficking to the brain, the lung and the thymus.Lira is currently the Leona M....
. The human herpesvirus 8 chemokine receptor vGPCR triggers autonomous proliferation of endothelial cells. J Clin Invest 2006;116:1264-1273. - Moriarty TM, Sealfon SC, Carty CJ, Roberts JL, Iyengar RRavi IyengarRavi Iyengar, Ph.D., is a systems biologist and Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, as well as the Dorothy H...
, Landau EM. Coupling of exogenous receptors to phospholipase C in Xenopus oocytes through pertussis toxin sensitive and insensitive pathways. J. Biol. Chem. 264:13524-13530, 1989. PMID 2474532 - Gonzalez-Maeso, J., N.V. Weisstaub, M. Zhou, P. Chan, L. Ivic, R. Ang, A. Lira, M. Bradley-Moore, Y. Ge, Q. Zhou, S.C. Sealfon, and J.A. Gingrich, Hallucinogens recruit specific cortical 5-HT(2A) receptor-mediated signaling pathways to affect behavior. Neuron, 2007. 53(3): p. 439-52. PMID 17270739
- Ruf, F., M.J. Park, F. Hayot, G. Lin, B. Roysam, Y. Ge, and S.C. Sealfon, Mixed analog/digital gonadotrope biosynthetic response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone. J Biol Chem, 2006. 281(41): p. 30967-78. PMID 16916798
- Nair, V.D., K.S. McNaught, J. Gonzalez-Maeso, S.C. Sealfon, and C.W. Olanow, p53 mediates nontranscriptional cell death in dopaminergic cells in response to proteasome inhibition. J Biol Chem, 2006. 281(51): p. 39550-60. PMID 17060322
- Chan, P., T. Yuen, F. Ruf, J. Gonzalez-Maeso, and S.C. Sealfon, Method for multiplex cellular detection of mRNAs using quantum dot fluorescent in situ hybridization. Nucleic Acids Res, 2005. 33(18): p. e161. PMID 16224100
- Wurmbach, E., T. Yuen, B.J. Ebersole, and S.C. Sealfon, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor-coupled gene network organization. J Biol Chem, 2001. 276(50): p. 47195-201. PMID 11581274
- Mitchell, R., D. McCulloch, E. Lutz, M. Johnson, C. MacKenzie, M. Fennell, G. Fink, W. Zhou, and S.C. Sealfon, Rhodopsin-family receptors associate with small G proteins to activate phospholipase D. Nature, 1998. 392(6674): p. 411-4. PMID 9537328
- Tsutsumi, M., W. Zhou, R.P. Millar, P.L. Mellon, J.L. Roberts, C.A. Flanagan, K. Dong, B. Gillo, and S.C. Sealfon, Cloning and functional expression of a mouse gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor. Mol Endocrinol, 1992. 6(7): p. 1163-9. PMID 1324422