Biography and publications | Pierre Chambon - Molecular genetics

Biography

Born February 7 1931, Mulhouse, France.

Academic positions

1956-1961 : Assistant at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Strasbourg Faculty of Medicine
1962-1966 : Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry, Strasbourg Faculty of Medicine
1966-1967 : Research internship (grant from the International Union Against Cancer) in the laboratory of Prof. A. Kornberg, Stanford University, California, U.S.A
1967-1985 : Professor without a Chair at Louis Pasteur University, U.E.R. Sciences Médicales, Strasbourg
1985-1991 : Professor at the Université Louis Pasteur, U.E.R. Sciences Médicales, Strasbourg, France
1991-1993 : Professor at the Institut Universitaire de France, Faculty of Medicine, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg
1993-2002 : Professor at the Collège de France, Chair of Molecular Genetics

Hospital appointments

1972- : Hospital practitioner - head of biochemistry laboratories at surgical clinics A and B, Hospices civils de Strasbourg

Research positions

1977- : Director, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Eukaryotes (LGME) (CNRS laboratory)
1978- : Director of Inserm's Unit 184 for Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering
1994- : Director of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), CNRS/Inserm/Université Louis-Pasteur/Collège de France
1999- : Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Genomics Program at the French Ministry of Research, Director of the Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine Genopole

Awards and distinctions

1976 : Rosen Cancer Prize, awarded by the French Medical Research Foundation (FRMF)
1979 : CNRS Gold Medal
1981 : Louis and Bert Freeman Foundation Biochemistry Research Prize, awarded by the New York Academy of Sciences
1982 : Richard Lounsbery Prize, awarded jointly by the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and the Académie des Sciences
1985 : Honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Liège, Belgium
1986 : Charles Oberling Cancerology Prize
1987 : " Harvey " prize in science and technology, awarded by Technion (Israel Inst. of Technology), Haifa
1987 : Griffuel Prize, Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC)
1987 : Henry and Mary-Jane Mitjavile Prize, French National Academy of Medicine, Paris
1988 : King Faisal International Prize in Science, Saudi Arabia
1990 : Sir Hans Krebs Medal, Federation of European Biochemical Societies
1990 : Prix Roussel, Paris
1991 : Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine, Geneva
1996 : Grand Prix de la Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale
1998 : Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry, Houston
1987 : Officer in the National Order of Merit
1991 : Officer in the National Order of the Legion of Honor
1995 : Commandeur dans l'ordre national du Mérite
1999 : Louisa Gross Horwitz Prixe (Columbia University, USA)
1999 : AFRT Prize, Association Française pour la Recherche Thérapeutique (Paris, France)
1999 : Honorary doctorate from Sapporo Medical University, Japan
2000 : Commandeur dans l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur
2004 : Winner of the " Endocrine Communication and Regulation " prize awarded by Fondation Ipsen

Research

Pierre Chambon directed the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire in association with : CNRS/LGME-INSERM/U.184, Université Louis Pasteur

Main theme

Structural and functional study of higher eukaryotic genomes. Control of gene expression during embryonic development and normal and pathological differentiation. Structure-function relationships.

Fields of research

Molecular mechanisms of transcription regulation in eukaryotes

Study of transcription and repair mechanisms: the example of TFIIH, whose subunit mutations are the cause of genetic diseases such as Xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome and Trichothi dystrophy. Genotype-phenotype relationship - Molecular mechanisms involved in aging. Leader: J.M. EGLY.
Genetic and structural analysis of the TFIID transcription factor.
Coordinator: I. DAVIDSON.
Transcription initiation and regulation, chromatin repression/depression. Structural and functional study of TFIID and its subunits. Coordinator: L. TORA.
Coupling gene regulation and signaling pathways. Biological clock.
Coordinator: P. SASSONE-CORSI.
Cancers: gene expression alterations and transformation mechanisms.
Coordinator: B. WASYLYK.
Search for new allelic variants in Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease. Leader: C. STRICKER.

Post-transcriptional control of genetic expression

Maturation of pre-messenger RNAs in higher eukaryotes: role of S/R-type splicing factors (rich in serine/arginine) in alternative and constitutive splicing reactions. Leader: J. STEVENIN.

Nuclear receptors

Structure-function studies; crystallography of nuclear receptors.
Leaders: P. CHAMBON, H. GRONEMEYER, D. MORAS.
Nuclear receptors and transcription control (co-activators, co-repressors, chromatin and transcriptional machinery).
Leaders: P. CHAMBON, R. LOSSON, H. GRONEMEYER.
Phosphorylation of nuclear receptors and modulation of their activity by other signaling pathways. Leaders: P. CHAMBON, C. ROCHETTE-EGLY.
Physiological role of nuclear retinoid receptors (RARs, RXRs), estrogen receptors and retinoid-binding cytoplasmic proteins (CRABPs, CRBPs) during embryogenesis, post-natal development and in adults: conditional mutagenesis of the corresponding genes in mice and in cultured target cells. Role of nuclear retinoid receptors and cytoplasmic retinoid-binding proteins in mouse embryogenesis.
Leaders: P. CHAMBON, D. METZGER, A. KRUST, N. GHYSELINCK, P. DOLLE, M. MARK.
Effect of retinoids on cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis. Molecular mechanisms of action of nuclear receptors. Role of coactivators and corepressors.
Leader: H. GRONEMEYER.
Study of orphan nuclear receptors. Roles in metabolism and transcription control. Structure-function studies.
Coordinator: J. AUWERX.

Membrane receptors

Study of the function of dopamine receptors in the central nervous system and pituitary gland. Receptor-G protein interactions and study of signal transduction. Obtaining transgenic mice and mutant mice by homologous recombination as models of human neuropathologies.
Leader: E. BORRELLI.
Serotonin and embryonic morphogenesis: complementary studies in Drosophila and mice.
Coordinator: L. MAROTEAUX.

Molecular embryology of vertebrates

Genetic and molecular analysis of vertebrate hindbrain development and craniofacial morphogenesis: the role of Hox genes.
Leader: F. RIJLI.
Development of the nervous system in mice. Study of the function of transcription factors in neuronal differentiation and specification of neuronal phenotype, in olfactory sensory epithelium and forebrain. Use of gene screening techniques, homologous recombination, transgenic mice, gene transfer into embryonic tissues, cell sorting and culture.
Leader: F. GUILLEMOT.
Brain development in mice. Study of the function of transcription and signaling factors in forebrain regionalization. Use of gene screening techniques, homologous recombination, tissue- and stage-specific mutations, mouse-chicken chimeras and explant cultures.
Coordinator: S. L. ANG.
Analysis of adhesion receptor (integrin) function in mice.
Coordinator: E. GEORGES.
Molecular and genetic analysis of embryonic leaflet establishment and regionalization in zebrafish (Danio rerio).
Project leaders: C. THISSE, B. THISSE.
Study of the determinants of neural tube establishment during zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryonic development.
Coordinator: U. STRÄHLE.
Molecular and genetic analysis of endo-mesodermal sheet formation and of skeletal and ocular malformations (in mice, chickens and humans).
Leader: F. PERRIN-SCHMITT.
Hematopoiesis in mice.
In charge: P. KASTNER, S. CHAN.

Molecular embryology of invertebrates

Nervous system differentiation: molecular and cellular mechanisms.
Leader: A. GIANGRANDE.
Hormonal control of gene expression during Drosophila development.
Coordinator: G. RICHARDS.
Mechanisms establishing epithelial cell polarity. Organ and tissue formation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
Coordinator: M. LABOUESSE.

Molecular and cellular biology of breast cancer

Cloning and characterization of genes involved in invasion and metastasis; study of the function of the corresponding proteins; development of transgenic models.
Leader: M. C. RIO.

Human molecular genetics

Molecular genetics of neurological diseases, particularly those linked to the X chromosome (mental retardation with fragile X, adrenoleukodystrophy, Huntington's disease, Friedreich's ataxia, Coffin-Lowry syndrome, myotubular myopathy), pathogenic mechanisms and animal models. Leaders: J. L. MANDEL, M. KOENIG, A. HANAUER; molecular cytogenetics applied to cancer, use of cDNA arrays in human genetics and oncology: S. DU MANOIR.

Electron microscopy of macromolecules

Structural and functional analysis of enzyme systems involved in eukaryotic gene replication and transcription.
Leaders: P. OUDET, P. SCHULTZ.

Selected bibliography

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