Biography
Eric Prossnitz, PhD, is Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Division of Molecular Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine. He co-leads the Cancer Therapeutics Research Program at The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center and is The Maralyn S. Budke Endowed Chair in Cancer Chemical Biology and Therapeutics.
Dr. Prossnitz received a BSc degree in Biochemistry (1985) from the University of Vistoria, Canada. He earned a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA in 1994 and joined the faculty at Scripps in 1994 as Assistant Professor. He joined the faculty at UNM in 1997 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility and leadership. The National Institutes of Health has continuously funded Dr. Prossnitz’s work for more than 27 years.
Personal Statement
My research focuses on the roles of the 7-transmembrane G protein-coupled estrogen receptor, GPR30/GPER in health and disease, with an emphasis on cancer biology, cardiovascular function, obesity and diabetes. With UNM and NMSU collaborators, we were the first to characterize GPER as an estrogen-binding receptor that is functionally distinct from the classical estrogen receptors ER-alpha/beta. I have been studying GPCRs for over 30 years and specifically GPER for over 15 years. Our work on GPER alone has resulted in over 90 publications in Science, Nature Chemical Biology, Science Signaling, Science Translational Medicine, Cell Chemical Biology, Circulation Research, Endocrinology and Molecular Cancer Research among many other journals, which together have been cited over 10,000 times, from a total of over 23,000 citations (h-index of 81). We were the first group to identify GPER-selective ligands (both an agonist and antagonists) that have propelled physiological studies of GPER function forward. We also demonstrated the prognostic significance of GPER as a biomarker in multiple women’s cancers (endometrial and ovarian). The ultimate goals of our work are to determine the mechanisms through which GPER regulates normal physiology and whether GPER represents a novel and viable target in the treatment of multiple disease states, specifically breast and other cancers. Our compound G-1 is currently in clinical trials for cancer. Our current work focuses on the development of novel ER-selective ligands that lack cross-reactivity towards GPER, which we hypothesize is a contributing factor in resistance to drugs such as tamoxifen and fulvestrant.
NCBI Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/eric.prossnitz.1/bibliography/public/
Areas of Specialty
Estrogen biology
Estrogen receptors
G protein-coupled receptors
Cancer
G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER)
Achievements & Awards
Excellence in Basic Research Award, 2009
Best Manuscript Award, Circulation Research, 2009
UNM Science and Technology Create Awards, 2006 through 2021
Holder of 12 patents
Distinguished Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico, 2019
Rainforest Innovations Innovation Fellow, 2021
Over 220 peer-reviewed works
Key Publications
Journal Article
Revankar, C, M Cimino, D, F Sklar, Larry, Arterburn, J, B Prossnitz, Eric, 2005 A transmembrane intracellular estrogen receptor mediates rapid cell signaling. Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 307, Issue 5715, 1625-30
Journal Article
Bologa, Cristian, Revankar, C, M Young, S, M Edwards, B, S Arterburn, J, B Kiselyov, A, S Parker, M, A Tkachenko, S, E Savchuck, N, P Sklar, Larry, Oprea, Tudor, Prossnitz, Eric, 2006 Virtual and biomolecular screening converge on a selective agonist for GPR30. Nature chemical biology, vol. 2, Issue 4, 207-12
Journal Article
Dennis, M, K Burai, R, Ramesh, C, Petrie, W, K Alcon, S, N Nayak, T, K Bologa, Cristian, Leitao, A, Brailoiu, E, Deliu, E, Dun, N, J Sklar, Larry, Hathaway, Helen, Arterburn, J, B Oprea, Tudor, 2009 In vivo effects of a GPR30 antagonist. Nature chemical biology, vol. 5, Issue 6, 421-7
Journal Article
Revankar, C, M Bologa, Cristian, Pepermans, R, A Sharma, Geetanjali, Petrie, W, K Alcon, S, N Field, A, S Ramesh, C, Parker, M, A Savchuk, N, P Sklar, Larry, Hathaway, Helen, Arterburn, J, B Oprea, Tudor, 2019 A Selective Ligand for Estrogen Receptor Proteins Discriminates Rapid and Genomic Signaling. Cell chemical biology, vol. 26, Issue 12, 1692-1702.e5
Journal Article
Nayak, T, K Hathaway, Helen, Ramesh, C, Arterburn, J, B Dai, D, Sklar, Larry, Norenberg, J, P Prossnitz, Eric, 2008 Preclinical development of a neutral, estrogen receptor-targeted, tridentate 99mTc(I)-estradiol-pyridin-2-yl hydrazine derivative for imaging of breast and endometrial cancers. Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, vol. 49, Issue 6, 978-86
Gender
Male
Languages
- English
- German
Courses Taught
BioMed 515 Cancer Biology 2016-present
BioMed 522 Methods in Molecular and Cellular Biology 2004-2018
Research and Scholarship
My research focuses on the roles of the 7-transmembrane G protein-coupled estrogen receptor, GPR30/GPER in health and disease, with an emphasis on cancer biology, cardiovascular function, obesity and diabetes. We were the first to characterize GPER as an estrogen-binding receptor that is functionally distinct from the classical estrogen receptors ER-alpha/beta. I have been studying GPCRs for over 30 years and specifically GPER for over 15 years. Our work on GPER alone has resulted in over 90 publications in Science, Nature Chemical Biology, Science Signaling, Science Translational Medicine, Cell Chemical Biology, Circulation Research, Endocrinology and Molecular Cancer Research among many other journals, which together have been cited over 10,000 times, from a total of over 23,000 citations (h-index of 81). We were the first group to identify GPER-selective ligands (both an agonist and antagonists) that have propelled physiological studies of GPER function forward. The ultimate goals of our work are to determine the mechanisms through which GPER regulates normal physiology and whether GPER represents a novel and viable target in the treatment of multiple disease states, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes. Our compound G-1 is currently in clinical trials for cancer.
Highlighted Publications include:
Sharma G, Hu C, Staquicini DI, Brigman JL, Liu M, Mauvais-Jarvis F, Pasqualini R, Arap W, Arterburn JB, Hathaway HJ and Prossnitz ER (2020) Preclinical efficacy of the GPER-selective agonist G-1 in mouse models of obesity and diabetes. Sci Transl Med12.
Revankar CM, Bologa CG, Pepermans RA, Sharma G, Petrie WK, Alcon SN, Field AS, Ramesh C, Parker MA, Savchuk NP, Sklar LA, Hathaway HJ, Arterburn JB, Oprea TI and Prossnitz ER (2019) A Selective Ligand for Estrogen Receptor Proteins Discriminates Rapid and Genomic Signaling. Cell Chem Biol26:1692-1702 e1695.
Meyer MR, Fredette NC, Daniel C, Sharma G, Amann K, Arterburn JB, Barton M and Prossnitz ER (2016) Obligatory role for GPER in cardiovascular aging and disease. Sci Signal9:ra105.
Meyer MR, Fredette NC, Howard TA, Hu C, Ramesh C, Daniel C, Amann K, Arterburn JB, Barton M and Prossnitz ER (2014) G protein-coupled estrogen receptor protects from atherosclerosis. Sci Rep4:7564.
Dennis MK, Burai R, Ramesh C, Petrie WK, Alcon SN, Nayak TK, Bologa CG, Leitao A, Brailoiu E, Deliu E, Dun NJ, Sklar LA, Hathaway HJ, Arterburn JB, Oprea TI and Prossnitz ER (2009) In vivo effects of a GPR30 antagonist. Nat Chem Biol5:421-427.
Bologa CG, Revankar CM, Young SM, Edwards BS, Arterburn JB, Kiselyov AS, Parker MA, Tkachenko SE, Savchuck NP, Sklar LA, Oprea TI and Prossnitz ER (2006) Virtual and biomolecular screening converge on a selective agonist for GPR30. Nat Chem Biol2:207-212.
Revankar CM, Cimino DF, Sklar LA, Arterburn JB and Prossnitz ER (2005) A transmembrane intracellular estrogen receptor mediates rapid cell signaling. Science307:1625-1630.