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Molecular Cardiology Research Institute
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Principal Investigators









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Michael Mendelsohn, M.D.

  Professor of Medicine
Molecular Cardiology Research Center

Tufts Medical Center

800 Washington Street, Box 080

Boston, MA 02111

    617-636-9370

Michael Mendelsohn

 

 Biosketch




Michael E. Mendelsohn, M.D., F.A.C.C., is currently a Professor of Medicine and member of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Mendelsohn founded the MCRI in 1998, and served as its Executive Director from its inception until 2010. Dr. Mendelsohn was also the first recipient of the Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professorship of Molecular Cardiology and Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. On June 1, 2010, Dr. Mendelsohn joined Merck & Co. as Senior Vice President and Head of Cardiovascular Research.

 

Dr. Mendelsohn is an international leader in the study of molecular vascular biology. As a physician-scientist, Mendelsohn has focused on signal transduction pathways regulating vascular tone and function.  His laboratory has contributed importantly to deciphering the mechanisms of action of endogenous vascular protective molecules, including estrogen/estrogen receptors and nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling pathways in cardiovascular physiology and disease.  Dr. Mendelsohn received his B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Amherst College and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, followed by residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was a member of the staff of the BWH Cardiology Division from 1988-1993 and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Mendelsohn’s laboratory is funded principally by the National Institutes of Health. He has been the Principal Investigator on numerous NIH awards, including a Specialized Center of Research in Ischemic Heart Disease and a Program Project Grant studying molecular mechanisms of vascular relaxation.   Dr. Mendelsohn’s awards also include election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Association of University Cardiologists (AUC) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP).

 

Research Administrator:  Patricia Griffiths-Rossiter

Key Publications

Peter I, Hedgepeth AK, Huggins GS, Housman DE, Mendelsohn ME, Vita JA, Vasan RS, Levy D, Benjamin EJ, Mitchell GM.  Association between arterial stiffness and variations in estrogen-related genes.    Journal of Human Hypertension 2009; 2009 Feb 5. [Epub ahead of print]   PubMed Abstract

 

Takimoto E, Koitabashi N, Hsu S, Ketner EA, Zhang M, Nagayama T, Bedja D, Gabrielson KL, Blanton R, Siderovski DP, Mendelsohn ME, Kass DA.  Regulator of G protein signaling 2 mediates cardiac compensation to pressure overload and antihypertrophic effects of PDE5 inhibition in mice.    Journal of Clinical Investigation 2009; 119(2):408-420.   PubMed Abstract

 

Kelley-Hedgepeth A, Peter I, Montefusco MC, Levy D, Benjamin EJ, Vasan RS, Mendelsohn ME, Housman D, Huggins GS, Mitchell GF.  The KCNMB1 E65K variant is associated with reduced central pulse pressure in the community-based Framingham Offspring Cohort.    Journal of Hypertension 2009; 27(1):55-60.   PubMed Abstract

 

Caprio M, Mammi C, Jaffe IZ, Zennaro MC, Aversa A, Mendelsohn ME, Fabbri A, Rosano G.  The mineralocorticoid receptor in endothelial physiology and disease: Novel concepts in the understanding of erectile dysfuction.    Current Pharmaceutical Design 2008; 14(35):3749-3757.   PubMed Abstract

 

Tsutsumi S, Zhang X, Takata K, Takahashi K, Karas RH, Kurachi H, Mendelsohn ME.  Differen

tial regulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene by estrogen receptors 1 and 2.    Journal of Endocrinology 2008; 199(2):267-273.   PubMed Abstrac

 

Sharma AK, Zhou GP, Kupferman J, Surks HK, Christensen EN, Chou JJ, Mendelsohn ME, Rigby AC.  Probing the interaction between the coiled-coil leucine zipper of cGMP-dependent protein kinase Ialpha and the C-terminus of the myosin binding subunit of the myosin light chain phosphatase.    Journal of Biological Chemistry 2008; 283(47):32860-32869.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Schnoes KK, Jaffe IZ, Iyer L, Dabreo A, Aronovitz M, Newfell B, Hansen U, Rosano G, Mendelsohn ME.  Rapid recruitment of temporally distinct vascular gene sets by estrogen.    Molecular Endocrinology 2008; 22(11):2544-2556.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Caprio M, Newfell BG, la Sala A, Baur W, Fabbri A, Rosano G, Mendelsohn ME, Jaffe IZ.  Functional mineralocorticoid receptors in human vascular endothelial cells regulate intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression and promote leukocyte adhesion.    Circulation Research 2008; 102(11):1359-1367.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Peter I, Kelley-Hedgepeth A, Fox CS, Cupples LA, Huggins GS, Housman DE, Karas RH, Mendelsohn ME, Levy D, Murabito JM.  Variation in estrogen-related genes associated with cardiovascular phenotypes and circulating estradiol, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels.    Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2008; 93(7):2779-2785.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Michael S, Surks HK, Wang Y, Zhu Y, Blanton R, Jamnongjit M, Aronovitz M, Baur W, Ohtani K, Wilkerson MK, Bonev AD, Nelson MT, Karas RH, Mendelsohn ME.  High blood pressure arising from a defect in vascular function.    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 2008; 105(18):6702-6707.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Kelley-Hedgepeth A, Peter I, Kip KE, Montefusco MC, Kogan S, Cox D, Ordovas JM, Levy D, Reis SE, Mendelsohn ME, Housman D, Huggins GS.  The protective effect of KCNMB1 E65K against hypertension is restricted to blood pressure treatment with ß-blockade.    Journal of Human Hypertension 2008; 22(7):512-515.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Patten RD, Pourati I, Aronovitz MJ, Alsheikh-Ali A, Eder S, Force T, Mendelsohn ME, Karas RH.  17 ß-estradiol differentially affects left ventricular and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy following myocardial infarction and pressure overload.    Journal of Cardiac Failure 2008; 14(3):245-253.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Mendelsohn ME, Karas RH.  HRT and the Young at Heart.    New England Journal of Medicine 2007; 356(25):2639-2641.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Peter I, Huggins GS, Shearman AM, Pollak A, Schmid CH, Cupples, Demissie S, Patten RD, Karas RH, Housman DE, Mendelsohn ME, Vasan RS, Benjamin EJ.  Age-related changes in echocardiographic measurements: association with variation in the estrogen receptor-α gene.    Hypertension 2007; 49(5):1000-1006.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Li HJ, Haque ZK, Chen A, Mendelsohn ME.  RIF-1, a novel nuclear receptor corepressor that associates with the nuclear matrix.    Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 2007; 102(4):1021-1035.  PubMed Abstract

 
Jaffe IZ, Tintut Y, Newfell BG, Demer LL, Mendelsohn ME.  Mineralocorticoid Receptor Activation Promotes Vascular Cell Calcification.    Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 2007; 27(4):799-805.    PubMed Abstract

 

 O’Lone R, Knorr K, Jaffe IZ, Schaffer M, Martini P, Karas RH, Bienkowska J, Mendelsohn ME, Hansen U.  Estrogen Receptors α and ß Mediate Distinct Pathways of Vascular Gene Expression, Including Genes Involved in Mitochondrial Electron Transport and Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species.    Molecular Endocrinology 2007; 21(6):1281-1296.   PubMed Abstract

 

 Li J, Haque Z, Lu Q, Li L, Karas RH, Mendelsohn ME.  Steroid receptor coactivator-3 is a coactivator for myocardin, the regulator of smooth muscle transcription and differentiation.    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 2007; 104(10):4065-4070.   PubMed Abstract

 

Mendelsohn ME, Karas RH.  Molecular and cellular basis of cardiovascular gender differences. Science 2005;308(5728):1583-7. Science Abstract.  Science Full Text

 

Wang Y, Surks H, Mendelsohn ME. Formin homology domain protein FHOD1 is a cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase I  binding protein and substrate in vascular smooth muscle cells. J Biol Chem. 2004;279(23):24420-6. PubMed Abstract

 

Akira Endo M.D., Ph.D., Howard K. Surks, M.D., Naoki Mochizuki M.D.,Ph.D. and Michael E. Mendelsohn, M.D. Identification and Characterization of Zipper-interacting Protein Kinase as the Unique Vascular Smooth Muscle Myosin Phosphatase-associated Kinase. J Biol Chem. 2004;279(40):42055-61. PubMed Abstract

 

Lu Q, Pallas DC, Surks HK, Baur WE, Mendelsohn ME, Karas RH. Striatin Assembles a Membrane Signaling Complex Necessary for Rapid, Non-genomic Activation of Endothelial NOS by Estrogen Receptor a. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2004;101(49):17126-31. PubMed Abstract

 

Tang M, Wang G, Lu P, Karas RH, Aronovitz M, Heximer SP, Kaltenbronn KM, Blumer KJ, Siderovski D,Yan Zhu  Y, Mendelsohn, ME. Regulator of G-Protein Signaling 2 Mediates Vascular Smooth Muscle Relaxation and Blood Pressure.  Nature Medicine 2003;9(12):1506-1512. PubMed Abstract

 

Zhu Y, Bian Z, Lu P, Karas RH, Bao L, Cox D, Hodgin J, Shaul PW, Thorén P, Smithies O, Gustafsson J-A, Mendelsohn, ME. Abnormal Vascular Function and Hypertension in Mice Deficient in Estrogen Receptor Beta. Science 2002;295: 505.  Science Abstract. Science Full Text  

 

Yuhanna IS, Zhu, Cox BE, Hahner LD, Osborne-Lawrence S, Lu P, Anderson RGW, Mendelsohn ME, Hobbs HH, Shaul PW.  Apoliprotein A-1 binding to scavenger receptor B-1 activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase in caveolae.  Nature Medicine, 2001;7:853-857. PubMed Abstract

 

Poelzel G, Kasai Y, Mochizuki N, Shaul P, Brown M, Mendelsohn ME. Specific association of estrogen receptor with a cell cycle spindle assembly checkpoint protein, MAD2. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000;2836-2839. PubMed Abstract

 

Karas RH, Hodgins J, Kwoun M, Krege J, Aronovitz M, Mackey W, Gustafsson JA, Korach, Smithies O, Mendelsohn ME.  Estrogen inhibits the vascular injury response in estrogen receptor b-deficient mice.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999;96:15133-15136. PubMed Abstract

 

Surks HK, Mochizuki N, Kasai Y, Ito M, Lincoln TM, Mendelsohn ME. Regulation of myosin phosphatase by a specific interaction with cGMP-dependent protein kinase 1. Science 1999;286: 1583-1587. PubMed Abstract

 

Mendelsohn ME, Karas RH. Mechanisms of Disease: The protective effects of estrogen on the cardiovascular system. 1999. N Engl J Med 340;1801-1811. PubMed Abstract

 

Wang G-R, Zhu Y, Lincoln T, Halushka P, Mendelsohn ME. Mechanism of platelet inhibition by nitric oxide. 1998 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95;4888-4893. PubMed Abstract

 

Iafrati M, Karas RH, Aronovitz M, Sullivan TR, Jr., Lubahn DB, O’Donnell TF, Jr., Korach KS, Mendelsohn, ME. Estrogen inhibits the vascular injury response in estrogen receptor-deficient mice. Nature Medicine 1997;3:545-548. PubMed Abstract