Animal Reproductive Biology Group

Dennis Lubahn

Professor
Biochemistry
Director of the MU Center for Phytonutrient and Phytochemical Studies

Phone: 573-884-6781
Fax: 573-882-6827
E-mail: LubahnD@missouri.edu
Address: 110a Animal Science Research Center

Education

B.S., University of South Florida
Ph.D., Duke University
Postdoc, University of North Carolina

Research Focus

Estrogen and estrogen receptors

Research Description

Lubahn's long-term research interests involve the understanding of the mechanism of action of the sex steroids and their receptors, in particular the estrogen receptors.

The estrogen receptor-alpha (ERa) and estrogen receptor-beta (ERb)-minus mice are used to look for new estrogen response pathways (i.e., novel estrogen receptors) and to find novel functional roles for the classic estrogen receptor.

The main long-term goals of his research program are to find novel functions for estrogens and the receptors, and then to identify the molecular mechanisms mediating these functions.

The working hypothesis is that estrogen responses in behavior, in bone, in glucose homeostasis, and in the reproductive, immune and cardiovascular systems may not be mediated exclusively by the classical ERa or the ERb proteins, but by additional non-classical estrogen response (NCER) proteins.

Studying specific mouse NCER proteins will lead to a better understanding of estrogen's developmental, physiological, behavioral and biochemical roles in humans.

Recent Publications

Ansell PJ, Lo SC, Newton LG, Espinosa-Nicholas C, Zhang DD, Liu JH, Hannink M, Lubahn DB.
Repression of cancer protective genes by 17beta-estradiol: Ligand-dependent interaction between human Nrf2 and estrogen receptor alpha. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2005 Sep 27; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 16198475
Wang Q, Sun AY, Simonyi A, Jensen MD, Shelat PB, Rottinghaus GE, Macdonald RS, Miller DK, Lubahn DE, Weisman GA, Sun GY.
Neuroprotective mechanisms of curcumin against cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal apoptosis and behavioral deficits. J Neurosci Res. 2005 Oct 1;82(1):138-48. PMID: 16075466
Tekmal RR, Liu YG, Nair HB, Jones J, Perla RP, Lubahn DB, Korach KS, Kirma N.
Estrogen receptor alpha is required for mammary development and the induction of mammary hyperplasia and epigenetic alterations in the aromatase transgenic mice. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 May;95(1-5):9-15. PMID: 15955696 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Wang Q, Simonyi A, Li W, Sisk BA, Miller RL, Macdonald RS, Lubahn DE, Sun GY, Sun AY.
Dietary grape supplement ameliorates cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal death in gerbils. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2005 May;49(5):443-51. PMID: 15830335
Pamidimukkala J, Xue B, Newton LG, Lubahn DB, Hay M.
Estrogen receptor-alpha mediates estrogen facilitation of baroreflex heart rate responses in conscious mice. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2005 Mar;288(3):H1063-70. Epub 2004 Nov 18. PMID: 15550515
Shenouda NS, Zhou C, Browning JD, Ansell PJ, Sakla MS, Lubahn DB, Macdonald RS.
Phytoestrogens in common herbs regulate prostate cancer cell growth in vitro. Nutr Cancer. 2004;49(2):200-8. PMID: 15489213
Watanabe H, Suzuki A, Goto M, Lubahn DB, Handa H, Iguchi T.
Tissue-specific estrogenic and non-estrogenic effects of a xenoestrogen, nonylphenol. J Mol Endocrinol. 2004 Aug;33(1):243-52. PMID: 15291756
Hampton JH, Manikkam M, Lubahn DB, Smith MF, Garverick HA.
Androgen receptor mRNA expression in the bovine ovary. Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2004 Jul;27(1):81-8. PMID: 15158536
Philips BJ, Ansell PJ, Newton LG, Harada N, Honda S, Ganjam VK, Rottinghaus GE, Welshons WV, Lubahn DB.
Estrogen receptor-independent catechol estrogen binding activity: protein binding studies in wild-type, Estrogen receptor-alpha KO, and aromatase KO mice tissues. Biochemistry. 2004 Jun 1;43(21):6698-708. PMID: 15157104
Lovegrove AS, Sun J, Gould KA, Lubahn DB, Korach KS, Lane PH.
Estrogen receptor alpha-mediated events promote sex-specific diabetic glomerular hypertrophy. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2004 Sep;287(3):F586-91. Epub 2004 May 18. PMID: 15149972
A complete list of publications for DB Lubahn in PubMed