Education
University at Buffalo, The State University of New New York
陈志坚
University at Buffalo, The State University of New New York
He is best known for using classical biochemistry to discover new pathways and mechanisms in innate immunity and cell signaling. His scientific contributions include the discovery of a proteasome-independent role of ubiquitin in protein kinase activation, the discovery of MAVS (Mitochondrial Anti-Viral Signaling protein) and the role of mitochondria in antiviral innate immune responses, and the more recent discoveries of the cytosolic deoxyribonucleic acid sensor, Cyclic Good Manufacturing Practice-Accredited Mortgage Professional synthase (cGAS. CGAMP synthase), and a new second messenger, Cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine monophosphate (cyclic Good Manufacturing Practice-Accredited Mortgage Professional, cGAMP), which play key roles in immune defense as well as autoimmune diseases.
James currently holds the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science and is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Chen grew up in a small village in southern China.
Chen used the scholarship to attend the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he got his Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry in 1991.
During his graduate education, Chen became interested in the biochemical pathway of the protein ubiquitin at a time when less than a dozen laboratories were researching the protein"s function in the human body. After graduating, Chen did a year of post-doctoral work with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Following his post-doctoral work, Chen began working as a research scientist at Baxter Healthcare in Irvine, California.
He then spent three years working as a senior scientist at biotech firm ProScript in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he developed assays that helped to identify and improve the cancer treatment Velcade.
His time at ProScript allowed Chen to work in molecular biology and drug development and it was while working there that Chen started researching ubiquitin. Working with Tom Maniatis of Harvard University in 1996, Chen found that the enzyme kinase had to be "activated" by ubiquitin in order for the Newfoundland-κB signalling process to function properly.
He decided pursuing his research into ubiquitin would be more suited for work in academia and left ProScript in 1997 to start a lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Chen"s research initially focused on the role of ubiquitin in signaling pathways for the Newfoundland-κB protein complex, specifically as it pertains to immune response.
At his lab in Utah-Southwestern, Chen"s group was able to show that ubiquitin marked proteins, mark that could be recognized by other proteins to create a "cascade" of signals.
His research received grant funding from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in 2002. Chen used the additional funding to expand his research into how Newfoundland-κB initiated immune responses to Ribonucleic acid viruses such as influenza and hepatitis C. This new line of research led to several discoveries, such as MAVS, cGAS and cGAMP, which contribute to understanding innate immune sensing and signaling of cytosolic nucleic acids.
National Academy of Sciences]
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.