Michael B. Sporn, M.D.
Title(s):
Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Professor of Medicine
Department(s):
Pharmacology & Toxicology
Medicine
Education:
Harvard University, AB 1952
U. Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, MD 1959
Programs:
Norris Cotton Cancer Center
Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Program
Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine
Websites:
http:
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Contact Information:
7650 Remsen
Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Geisel School of Medicine
Hanover NH 03755
Office: Remsen 524A
Phone: 603-650-6557
Fax: 603-650-1129
Email: michael.sporn@dartmouth.edu
Assistant: Caitlin Kivler
Asst. Phone: 603-650-6559
Asst. Email: gwen.tuson@Dartmouth.edu
Professional Interests:
Chemoprevention of cancer, especially by retinoids, rexinoids, and other ligands of the steroid receptor superfamily; peptide growth factors, especially transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and its mechanism of action; development of new natural products for prevention of cancer. Synthetic triterpenoids and rexinoids (RXR ligand) as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-carcinogenic agents.
Dr. Sporn completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard College, majoring in biology, in 1952. He received his M.D. at the University of Rochester in 1959. Dr. Sporn then began his research career at the National Institutes of Health, where, in 1970, he was made the Head of the Lung Cancer Unit. In 1978 he became Chief of the Laboratory of Chemoprevention, where he remained until 1995, when he came to Dartmouth Medical School as the Oscar M. Cohn '34 Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine.
Triterpenoids of an ursane or oleanane structure are widely distributed in nature, occurring in hundreds of plants all over the world. Many such structures have interesting biological, pharmacological, or medicinal activities, similar to those of retinoids and steroids, including inhibition of carcinogenesis and induction of differentiation in leukemia or teratocarcinoma cells. Ursanes and oleananes belong to a larger family of related terpenoids, many of which are ligands for the steroid receptor superfamily, such as retinoids and classical steroids.
In collaboration with Professor Gordon Gribble in the Department of Chemistry, we are studying ursanes and oleananes that are more polar than the common parent substances, ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. The goal of these studies is to understand the mechanism of action of triterpenoids, and also to develop new agents for prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases. One of the new synthetic triterpenoids that has been made for the first time in the Department of Chemistry is now in clinical trials for the treatment of advanced diabetic kidney disease. Karen Liby, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, is a key collaborator in the Sporn Lab
Selected Publications: |
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Sporn MB, Liby KT Balboni AL, Hutchinson JA, DeCastro AJ, Cherukuri P, Liby K, Sporn MB, Schwartz GN, Wells WA, Sempere LF, Yu PB, DiRenzo J Tran K, Risingsong R, Royce DB, Williams CR, Sporn MB, Pioli PA, Gediya LK, Njar VC, Liby KT Liby KT, Sporn MB Sporn MB, Liby KT Tran K, Risingsong R, Royce D, Williams CR, Sporn MB, Liby K Kim EH, Deng C, Sporn MB, Royce DB, Risingsong R, Williams CR, Liby KT Yore MM, Kettenbach AN, Sporn MB, Gerber SA, Liby KT Sporn MB Kim EH, Deng CX, Sporn MB, Liby KT |
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