Presentation

Born in 1941 in the United States, Stuart Edelstein completed his doctoral studies at the University of California (Berkeley). After a year's postdoctoral training at the Institut Pasteur (Paris) in Jacques Monod's laboratory, he taught at Cornell University (Ithaca) from 1968 to 1986, except for two sabbatical years as associate professor at the Université de Paris-XII (Créteil) in Jean Rosa's group. Since 1986, he has been a professor at the University of Geneva, where he headed the biochemistry department for seven years. In 1994, during a sabbatical year, he returned to the Institut Pasteur to work with Jean-Pierre Changeux.

Stuart J. Edelstein's scientific career has focused on the conformational transitions of allosteric proteins. His original contributions focus on the following four areas: 1) stabilization energy between hemoglobin subunits during cooperative oxygen uptake; 2) the three-dimensional structure of fibers of the hemoglobin variant responsible for sickle cell anemia; 3) the role of α and β forms of tubulin, as well as associated proteins, in microtubule structure; 4) functional models of allosteric receptors involving a neurotransmitter-controlled ion channel and G-protein-coupled receptors.

A foreign member of the Académie des Sciences since 1998, he is editor-in-chief of "Comptes Rendus Biologies". Appointed Associate Professor in the International Chair at the Collège de France in 2002, his lectures are devoted to the mechanisms of signal transduction in biology.

Chair

Selected bibliography

Main scientific articles

  • Extensions of the allosteric model for hemoglobin

    Edelstein S., « Extensions of the allosteric model for hemoglobin », Nature, n° 230, 1971, p. 224-227.

  • Cooperative interactions of hemoglobin

    Edelstein S., « Cooperative interactions of hemoglobin », Annu. Rev. Biochem., n° 44, 1975, p. 209-232.

  • Three-dimensional reconstruction of the fibres of sickle cell haemoglobin

    Edelstein S., Dykes G. et Crepeau R. H., « Three-dimensional reconstruction of the fibres of sickle cell haemoglobin », Nature, n° 272, 1978, p. 506-510.

  • Molecular topology in crystals and fibers of hemoglobin

    Edelstein S., « Molecular topology in crystals and fibers of hemoglobin », S. J. Mol. Biol., n° 150, 1981, p. 557-575.

  • Pairings and polarities of the 14 strands in sickle cell hemoglobin fibers

    Edelstein S., Rodgers D. W. et Crepeau R. H., « Pairings and polarities of the 14 strands in sickle cell hemoglobin fibers », Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, n° 84, 1987, p. 6157-6161.

  • MHP1, an essential gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae required for microtubule function

    Edelstein S., Irminger-Finger I., Hurt E., Roebuck A. et Collart M. A., « MHP1, an essential gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae required for microtubule function », J. Cell Biol., n° 135, 1996, p. 1323-1339.

  • Allosteric receptors after 30 years

    Edelstein S. et Changeux J.-P., « Allosteric receptors after 30 years », Neuron, n° 21, 1998, p. 959-980.

  • Allosteric transitions of the acetylcholine receptor

    Edelstein S. et Changeux J.-P., « Allosteric transitions of the acetylcholine receptor », Adv. Prot. Chem., n° 51, 1998, p. 121-184.

  • The Neurokinin A Receptor Activates Calcium et cAMP Responses through Distinct Conformational States

    Palanche T., Ilien B., Zoffmann S., Reck M. P., Bucher B. et Galzi J.-L., « The Neurokinin A Receptor Activates Calcium et cAMP Responses through Distinct Conformational States », J. Biol. Chem., n° 276, 2001, p. 34853-34861.

Main works

  • The Sickled Cell. From Myths to Molecules

    S. Edelstein, The Sickled Cell. From Myths to Molecules, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1986.

  • Des gènes aux génomes

    S. Edelstein, Des gènes aux génomes, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2002.