RESEARCH & FACULTY

Kirsten Stone,  Instructor Department/Laboratory: Nutrient Sensing and Adipocyte Signaling
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EDUCATION

FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER UNIVERSITY JENA, GERMANY
Masters in Biology, July 1986
Ph.D. in Biology, April 1995

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Laboratory of Cell Biology and Biochemistry
Advisor: Dr. J. Barsony

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Mechanisms of cytokine transcytosis through the blood-brain barrier and functions of cytokines in endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier

• Cell biology of nuclear receptors, mechanisms of functional regulation such as nuclear import and export, protein-protein interactions, DNA-receptor interactions in cell-based systems using biochemical, methods of cell and molecular biology such as cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, amplification, PCR, quantitative PCR, electro mobility shift assays (EMSAs), Western blot analysis, protein expression, affinity purification, IP, cell culture, transfection, transactivation and proliferation assays, cell permeabilization assays, microscopical evaluation of living cells (incl. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, FRAP and FRET)

• Distribution of nuclear receptors in the central nervous system, functional studies using cell and tissue culture (incl. primary neuronal culture), immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, animal experiments (incl. behavioral; stereotactic brain injections)

• Pharmacological studies of steroid actions on keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation, nongenomic actions of steroids (Ph.D. thesis)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

K.Prüfer & B.Sternberg: Liposomen in der Medizin. Eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme. Zeitschrift für ärztliche Fortbildung 88 (1994) 257-260

K.Prüfer & U.Wollina: Nichtradioaktive Bestimmung des Zellwachstums. Ein Metho-denvergleich an humanen Keratinozyten. Dermatological Journal 180 (1994) 143-148

U. Wollina, B. Knöll, K. Prüfer: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) supports migra¬tion and growth of human keratinocytes on polyurethane foils. Journal of Dermato¬logical Science 6 (1993) 55

K. Prüfer, K. Merz, A. Barth, U. Wollina, B. Sternberg: Interaction of liposomal in-corporated vitamin D3 - analogues and human keratinocytes. Journal of Drug Targeting 2 (1994) 419-429

G.F. Jirikowski, D. Celeda, M. Jantz, K. Prüfer, J.S. Lee: Sense- and antisense-targeting of oxytocinergic systems in the rat hypothalamus. Adv Exp Med Biol 395 (1995) 59-65

U. Wollina, B. Knöll, K. Prüfer, A. Barth, D. Müller, J. Huschenbeck: Synthetic wo¬und dressings - evaluation of interactions with epithelial and dermal cells in vitro. Skin Pharmacology 9 (1996) 35-42

K. Prüfer, G.F. Jirikowski: Liposomal incorporation changes the effect of 1.25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on phospholipase C signal transduction pathway and the eicosanoid cascade on keratinocytes in vitro. Biochemical Pharmacology 51 (1996) 247-252

K. Prüfer, C. Platzer, G.F. Jirikowski: Distribution of vitamin D receptor immunoreactive neurons in the rat hypothalamus. European Journal of Anatomy 1 (1997) 145-150

K. Prüfer, G.F. Jirikowski: Vitamin D receptor is partly colocalized with oxytocin immunoreactivity in neurons of the male rat hypothalamus. Cellular and Molecular Biology 43 (1997) 543-548

K. Prüfer, G.F. Jirikowski: Distribution of vitamin D receptor immunoreactivity in the male rat hypothalamus and colocalization with oxytocin. In: Vitamin D, Chemistry, Biology and Clinical Applications of the Steroid Hormone. (Norman A.W., Bouillon, R. Thomasset M. eds.) University of California Printing, Riverside CA, pp. 610-611 (1997)

T. D. Veenstra, K. Prüfer, and R. Kumar: Immunolocalization of the 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Receptor in the Central Nervous System of the Developing Rat Embryo. Brain Research 804 (1998) 193-205

K. Prüfer, T.D. Veenstra, G.F. Jirikowski, R. Kumar: Immunolocalization of the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor in the central nervous system of the rat. Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy 16 (1999) 135-145

S. D. Glaser, T. D. Veenstra, G. F. Jirikowski, K. Prüfer: Distribution of the 1.25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor immunoreactivity in the rat olfactory system. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology 19 (1999) 613-624

D. Baas, K. Prüfer, M.E. Ittel, S. Kuchler-Bopp, G. Labourdette, L.L. Sarlieve and P. Brachet: Rat oligodendrocytes express the vitamin D3 receptor and respond to 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3. Glia 31 (2000) 59-68

C. Bolde, G.F. Jirikowski and K. Prüfer: Distribution of Neuropeptide Y immunoreactive 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptive neurons in the rat cerebral cortex. European Journal of Anatomy 4 (2000) 7-13

Kirsten Prüfer, Attila Racz, Grace C. Lin and Julia Barsony: Dimerization with Retinoid X Receptors Promotes Nuclear Localization and Subnuclear Targeting of Vitamin D Receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry 275 (2000) 41114-41123

Tobias Walbert, Gustav F. Jirikowski, Kirsten Prüfer: Distribution of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor immunoreactivity in the rat limbic system. Horm Metabol Res 33 (2001) 525-31

Kirsten Prüfer, Claudia Schröder, Krisztina Hegyi, Julia Barsony: Enhanced Degradation of Retinoid X Receptors in Osteosarcoma Cells Prevents the Antiproliferative Effects of Calcitriol and Retinoic Acid. Molecular Endocrinology 16 (2002) 961-976

Kirsten Prüfer, Julia Barsony: Retinoid X Receptor Dominates the Nuclear Import and Export of the Unliganded Vitamin D Receptor. Molecular Endocrinology 16 (2002) 1738-1751

G.F. Jirikowski, J. Culman, J.S. Lee, D. Celeda, K. Prüfer: Antisense targeting of oxytocinergic hypothalamus neurons induces cytoplasmic triple helix like immunoreactivity. Cell Mol Biol 49 (2003)

Kirsten Prüfer, Jeanne Boudreaux: Nuclear Localization of Liver X Receptor a and ß is Differentially Regulated. J. Cell Biochemistry 100 (2007) 69-85

Kirsten Prüfer, and Christian Hernandez, Matthew Gilbreath: Mutations in the AF-2 region abolish ligand-induced intranuclear immobilization of the Liver X Receptor a. Exp. Cell Res. 314 (2008) 2652-2660

Anna Miller, Christine Crumbley, and Kirsten Prüfer: The N-Terminal Nuclear Localization Sequences of Liver X Receptors a and ß Bind to Importin a and are Essential for both Nuclear Import and Transactivating Functions. The International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology 41 (2009) 834-843

Rajuli Lall, Sarah Kuruvilla, and Kirsten Prüfer: Liver X Receptor ß with Mutations in the Activation Function-2 Region is Excluded from the Nucleolus. Cell Biology International 33 (2009) 447-452

Reas S. Khan, Chuanhui Yu, Abba J. Kastin, Yi He, Rudolph H. Ehrensing, Hung Hsuchou, Kirsten Prüfer Stone and Weihong Pan. Brain activation by peptide Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2 (MIF-1). International Journal of Peptides (2010), 2010. pii: 537639

Xiaojun Wu, Weihong Pan, Kirsten P. Stone, Yan Zhang, Hung Hsuchou, Abba J. Kastin. Expression and signaling of novel IL15R splicing variants in cerebral endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier. Journal of Neurochemistry 114 (2010), 122-9

Wu X, Hsuchou H, Kastin AJ, He Y, Khan RS, Stone KP, Cash MS, Pan W. Interleukin-15 affects serotonin system and exerts antidepressive effects through IL15Ralpha receptor.
Psychoneuroendocrinology 36 (2011) 266-78

Kirsten P. Stone, Abba J. Kastin, Hung Hsuchou, Chuanhui Yu, Weihong Pan. Rapid endocytosis of interleukin-15 by cerebral endothelia. Journal of Neurochemistry 116 (2011) 544-553

Kirsten P. Stone, Abba J. Kastin, Weihong Pan. NF?B is an unexpected major mediator of interleukin-15 signaling in cerebral endothelia. Cell Physiology & Biochemistry 28 (2011) 115-124

Hung Hsuchou, Abba J. Kastin, Hong Tu, Emily N. Markadakis, Kirsten P. Stone, Yuping Wang, Steven B. Heymsfield, Streamson S. Chua, Jr., Silvana Obici, I. Jack Magrisso, Weihong Pan. Effects of cell-type specific leptin receptor mutation on leptin transport across the BBB. Peptides 32 (2011) 1392-9
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