Mark Bothwell is Professor of Physiology & Biophysics and a member of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Bothwell received his B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. His research has focused on growth factor function and mechanisms of action and mechanisms of neurological diseases. His laboratory has made a number of important contributions including the following. 1980- Discovery that IGF1 promotes the survival of neurons. 1984- Discovery that human carcinomas exhibit amplification of the EGF receptor gene. Amplification of EGFR family members is now known to be a major driving force for carcinogenesis. 1986- Cloning and biochemical characterization of the neurotrophin receptor p75NTR and discovery of the repeated cysteine-rich motif that is the defining characteristic of all 40 members of the TNF receptor superfamily. 1990- discovery that CNS neuroepithelial cells express abundant FGF receptors. FGF is an essential component of modern media for neural stem cell culture. 1992- discovery that physiological neural activity in hippocampal neurons induces BDNF expression in the context of LTP. This led to the discovery in multiple labs that synaptic regulation by BDNF controls fundamental processes of synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory. 1994- discovery that neurotrophin-dependent p75NTR signaling induces neuronal cell death. 1996- discovery that BDNF undergoes axonal transport and peri-synaptic release. 2003- discovery that Notch-like proteolytic processing of p75NTR contributes to p75NTR signaling. 2005- discovery that Alzheimer’s disease associated mutations of amyloid precursor protein and presenilin-1 typically decrease gamma-secretase mediated APP cleavage, contrary to expectations that the opposite was true. 2009- discovery that LIG family members including LRIG1, LINGO1 and ISLR2 control signaling by multiple growth factor receptors. Dr. Bothwell has held numerous journal editorial positions including Senior Editor of the Journal of Neuroscience and Reviewing Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He is currently a member of the Faculty of 1000.
Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1veiri97H5f/bibliography/public/