Agnes Schonbrunn

powered by
COS Expertise®
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Medical School
Integrative Biology and Pharmacology
ProfessorAppointed: 1988
University of Texas Health Science Center
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
MemberAppointed: 1988
Professional Headshot of Agnes Schonbrunn

Mailing Address

5.200 MSB
University of Texas - Houston Health Science Center
Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology
P.O. Box 20708
Houston, Texas 77225
United States

Contact Information

Fax: (713) 500-7456
Agnes.Schonbrunn@uth.tmc.edu
http://girch2.med.uth.tmc.edu/faculty/aschonbr/aschonbr.htm

Qualifications

Ph.D., Brandeis University, Biochemistry, 1975.
B.Sc., McGill University, Biochemistry, 1970.

Expertise and Research Interests

Our studies are aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which cells respond to extracellular signals and the manner in which this responsiveness is regulated. To achieve this goal, we are using a combination of biochemical, immunological and molecular tools to investigate the physiological function, signalling, and regulation of the plasma membrane receptors for the peptide somatostatin. Somatostatin acts as an endocrine, paracrine and neuronal regulator for a large variety of normal and tumor cells. Five somatostatin receptor subtype genes (sst1 - sst5) have been cloned. They all belong to the family of seven-transmembrane domain, G protein-coupled receptors with each receptor subtype playing a unique physiological role. Current studies are focusedon identifying the unique properties and distribution of each somatostatin receptor subtype. We are determining the specific G proteins and downstream effectors activated during signal transduction by sst receptors and the biochemical mechanisms involvedin receptor regulation, with particular emphasis on the role of receptor phosphorylation in acute receptor desensitization and endocytosis. Having shown that different sst receptor subtypes are uniquely regulated, we have constructed and expressed receptor chimeras to examine the regions of the receptor involved in desensitization and internalization. We are also examining the functions of mutant receptors in which receptor phosphorylation is either reduced or prevented in order to identify the biological importance of particular phosphorylation events. Since somatostatin receptors are present in a large number of cancers, as well as in normal tissues, and since somatostatin analogs are in current clinical use for both the diagnosis and the treatment of a variety of tumors, the basic knowledge derived from our studies will have wide therapeutic and clinical applicability.

Other Expertise

ADVISOR: National Institutes of Health Reviewers Reserve 90-present;
Advisory Committee to the NIDDK Endocrinology Research Program 92-94

EDITORIAL POSITIONS: Editorial Board ENDOCRINOLOGY 91-92; Associate Editor ENDOCRINOLOGY 92-97; Editorial Board PITUITARY 97-present;

SOCIETY COMMITTEES: Endocrine Society, Public Communications Committee 98-99; Endocrine Society, Publications Committee 99-02; Women in Endocrinology, President 96-98; Women in Endocrinology, Chair Communications Committee 98-present, Pituitary Society, Co-Chair Scientific Program Committee for the 5th and 6th International Pituitary Congress (June 1998 and June 1999); Pituitary Society, Board of Directors, 99-present

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Cell Proliferation, Hormones, Neuropeptides, Neuroscience, Peptides, Pharmacology, Receptors, Signal Transduction.

Additional Terms:

Biochemist, Bombesin, Cell Calcium, Cell Proliferation, Cyclic Nucleotides, G Proteins, Intracellular Messengers, K+ Channels, Membrane Receptors, Neuropeptides, Pharmacology, Signal Transduction, Somatostatin.

Memberships

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society for Cell Biology
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Endocrine Society
Pituitary Society
Society for Neuroscience
Women in Endocrinology

Previous Positions

1985-1987, Associate Professor, Harvard University, School of Public Health, Toxicology
1979-1985, Assistant Professor, Harvard University, School of Public Health, Toxicology

Publications

  • Gugger M, Waser B, Kappeler A, Schonbrunn A, Reubi JC, Cellular Detection of Sst2A Receptors in Human Gastrointestinal Tissue., Gut, 53(10), 1431-6, Oct 2004 Abstract
  • Gugger M, Waser B, Kappeler A, Schonbrunn A, Reubi JC, Immunohistochemical Localization of Somatostatin Receptor Sst2A in Human Gut and Lung Tissue: Possible Implications for Physiology And Carcinogenesis., Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1014, 132-6, Apr 2004 Abstract
  • Sarret P, Esdaile MJ, McPherson PS, Schonbrunn A, Kreienkamp HJ, Beaudet A, Role of Amphiphysin II in Somatostatin Receptor Trafficking In Neuroendocrine Cells., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 279(9), 8029-37, Feb 2004 Abstract
  • Liu Q, Reubi JC, Wang Y, Knoll BJ, Schonbrunn A, In Vivo Phosphorylation of the Somatostatin 2A Receptor in Human Tumors., The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 88(12), 6073-9, Dec 2003 Abstract
  • Elberg G, Hipkin RW, Schonbrunn A, Homologous and heterologous regulation of somatostatin receptor 2, Molecular Endocrinology, 6, 2502-2514, 2002
  • Liu Q, Schonbrunn A, Agonist-induced phosphorylation of somatostatin receptor subtype 1 (sst1). Relationship to desensitization and internalization, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276(5), 3709-17, February 2001 Abstract
  • Stroh T, Jackson AC, Dal Farra C, Schonbrunn A, Vincent JP, Beaudet A, Receptor-mediated internalization of somatostatin in rat cortical and hippocampal neurons, Synapse (new York, N.y.), 38(2), 177-86, November 2000 Abstract
  • Boudin H, Sarret P, Mazella J, Schonbrunn A, Beaudet A, Somatostatin-induced regulation of SST(2A) receptor expression and cellsurface availability in central neurons: role of receptor internalization, The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 20(16), 5932-9, August 2000 Abstract
  • Reubi JC, Waser B, Liu Q, Laissue JA, Schonbrunn A, Immunohistochemical detection and subcellular distribution of somatostatin sst2A receptors in human tumors of the nervous and neuroendocrine systems: Membranous versus intracellular location, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 85, 3882-3891, 2000
  • Reubi JC, Laissue JA, Waser B, Steffen DL, Hipkin RW, Schonbrunn A, Immunohistochemical detection of somatostatin sst2a receptors in the lymphatic, smooth muscular, and peripheral nervous systems of the human gastrointestinal tract: facts and artifacts, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 84(8), 2942-50, August 1999 Abstract
  • Mitra SW, Mezey E, Hunyady B, Chamberlain L, Hayes E, Foor F, Wang Y, Schonbrunn A, Schaeffer JM, Colocalization of somatostatin receptor sst5 and insulin in rat pancreatic beta-cells, Endocrinology, 140(8), 3790-6, August 1999 Abstract
  • Hofland LJ, Liu Q, Van Koetsveld PM, Zuijderwijk J, Van Der Ham F, De Krijger RR, Schonbrunn A, Lamberts SW, Immunohistochemical detection of somatostatin receptor subtypes sst1 and sst2A in human somatostatin receptor positive tumors, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 84(2), 775-80, February 1999 Abstract
  • Williams BY, Dion SB, Schonbrunn A, Role of receptor and protein kinase C activation in the internalization of the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, Molecular Pharmacology, 54(5), 889-98, November 1998 Abstract
  • Reubi JC, Kappeler A, Waser B, Schonbrunn A, Laissue J, Immunohistochemical localization of somatostatin receptor sst2A in human pancreatic islets, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 83(10), 3746-9, October 1998 Abstract
  • Reubi J C, Kappeler A, Waser B, Laissue J, Hipkin R W, Schonbrunn A, Immunohistochemical localization of somatostatin receptors sst2A in human tumors., American Journal of Pathology, 153(1), 233-45, July 1998 Abstract
  • Dournaud P, Boudin H, Schonbrunn A, Tannenbaum G S, Beaudet A, Interrelationships between somatostatin sst2A receptors and somatostatin-containing axons in rat brain: evidence for regulation of cell surface receptors by endogenous somatostatin., Journal of Neuroscience, 18(3), 1056-71, 1 Feb 1998 Abstract
  • Mezey E, Hunyady B, Mitra S, Hayes E, Liu Q, Schaeffer J, Schonbrunn A, Cell specific expression of the sst2A and sst5 somatostatin receptors in the rat anterior pituitary., Endocrinology, 139(1), 414-9, Jan 1998 Abstract
  • Dent P, Wang Y, Gu Y Z, Wood S L, Reardon D B, Mangues R, Pellicer A, Schonbrunn A, Sturgill T W, S49 cells endogenously express subtype 2 somatostatin receptors which couple to increase protein tyrosine phosphatase activity in membranes and down-regulate Raf-1 activity in situ., Cellular Signalling, 9(7), 539-49, November 1997 Abstract
  • Hunyady B, Hipkin R W, Schonbrunn A, Mezey E, Immunohistochemical localization of somatostatin receptor SST2A in the rat pancreas [corrected and republished with original paging, article originally printed in Endocrinology 1997 Jun;138(6):2632-5], Endocrinology, 138(7), 2632-5, July 1997 Abstract
  • Hunyady B, Hipkin R W, Schonbrunn A, Mezey E, Immunohistochemical localization of somatostatin receptor SST2A in the rat pancreas [corrected and republished in Endocrinology 1997 Jul;138(7):2632-5], Endocrinology, 138(6), 2632-5, June 1997 Abstract
  • Hipkin R W, Friedman J, Clark R B, Eppler C M, Schonbrunn A, Agonist-induced desensitization, internalization, and phosphorylation of the sst2A somatostatin receptor., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 272(21), 13869-76, 23 May 1997 Abstract
  • Gu Y Z, Schonbrunn A, Coupling specificity between somatostatin receptor sst2A and G proteins: isolation of the receptor-G protein complex with a receptor antibody., Molecular Endocrinology, 11(5), 527-37, May 1997 Abstract
  • Schonbrunn A, Gu Y Z, Dournard P, Beaudet A, Tannenbaum G S, Brown P J, Somatostatin receptor subtypes: specific expression and signaling properties., Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental, 45(8 Suppl 1), 8-11, August 1996 Abstract
  • Dournaud P, Gu Y Z, Schonbrunn A, Mazella J, Tannenbaum G S, Beaudet A, Localization of the somatostatin receptor SST2A in rat brain using a specific anti-peptide antibody., Journal of Neuroscience, 16(14), 4468-78, 15 Jul 1996 Abstract
  • Duerson K, White R E, Jiang F, Schonbrunn A, Armstrong D L, Somatostatin stimulates BKCa channels in rat pituitary tumor cells through lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid., Neuropharmacology, 35(7), 949-61, 1996 Abstract
  • Gu Y Z, Brown P J, Loose-Mitchell D S, Stork P J, Schonbrunn A, Development and use of a receptor antibody to characterize the interaction between somatostatin receptor subtype 1 and G proteins., Molecular Pharmacology, 48(6), 1004-14, December 1995 Abstract
  • Schonbrunn A, Gu Y Z, Brown P J, Loose-Mitchell D, Function and regulation of somatostatin receptor subtypes., Ciba Foundation Symposium, 190, 204-17; discussion 2, 1995 Abstract
  • Brown P J, Schonbrunn A, Affinity purification of a somatostatin receptor-G-protein complex demonstrates specificity in receptor-G-protein coupling., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 268(9), 6668-76, 25 Mar 1993 Abstract
  • White R E, Lee A B, Shcherbatko A D, Lincoln T M, Schonbrunn A, Armstrong D L, Potassium channel stimulation by natriuretic peptides through cGMP-dependent dephosphorylation., Nature, 361(6409), 263-6, 21 Jan 1993 Abstract
  • Schonbrunn A, Lee A B, Brown P J, Characterization of a biotinylated somatostatin analog as a receptor probe., Endocrinology, 132(1), 146-54, January 1993 Abstract
  • White R E, Schonbrunn A, Armstrong D L, Somatostatin stimulates Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels through protein dephosphorylation., Nature, 351(6327), 570-3, 13 Jun 1991 Abstract
  • Brown P J, Lee A B, Norman M G, Presky D H, Schonbrunn A, Identification of somatostatin receptors by covalent labeling with a novel photoreactive somatostatin analog., Journal of Biological Chemistry, 265(29), 17995-8004, 15 Oct 1990 Abstract
  • White, R.E., Lee, A.B., Shcherbatko, A.D., Lincoln, T.M., SCHONBRUNN, A., Armstrong, D.L. Potassium channel stimulation by natriuretic peptides through cGMP-dependent dephosphorylation. Nature 361(6409):263-266, Jan 21 1993
  • SCHONBRUNN, A., Lee, A.B., Brown, P.J. Characterization of a biotinylated somatostatin analog as a receptor probe. Endocrinol 132(1):146-154, Jan 1993
  • Brown, P.J., SCHONBRUNN, A. Affinity purification of a somatostatin receptor-G-Protein complexdemonstrates specificity in receptor-G-Protein coupling. J Biol Chem 268(9):6668-6676, Mar 1993
  • White, R.E., SCHONBRUNN, A., Armstrong, D.L. Somatostatin stimulates Ca2+- activated K+ channels through protein dephosphorylation. Nature 351(6327):570-573, Jun 13 1991

Profile Details

Last Updated: 5/1/2005

COS Expertise ID #303876
Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/aschonb