Columbia University

College of Physicians & Surgeons

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care

Divisional Faculty

Christian Schindler, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine and Microbiology

Mailing Address:

Biography:

B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1978
M.D./Ph.D., New York University School of Medicine, 1985/1986
Residency, Jacobi Hospital-Albert Einstein Medical Center
Fellowship, Cornell Medical Center/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Endocrinology)
Post Doctoral Fellowship, Rockefeller University

Honors:

Board Certified in Internal Medicine, 1989
McDonnell Scholar, 1993
DeWitt S. Goodman Fellow, 1994
The Doctor Harold and Golden Lamport Award for Excellence in Clinical Science Research, 1996
Scholar of the Leukemia Society of America, 1996-2001
Burroughs Wellcome Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research, 1998-2002
Member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, 1998-
Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2002-

Clinical and Research Interests:

Cytokine signal transduction and its role in immune response

Characterization of the ability of Interferons (IFNs), which are members of the cytokine/interleukin family, to rapidly induce new genes led to the identification of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Subsequent studies determined that there are four JAKs (Janus Kinases) and seven STATs (Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription) that transduce pivotal signals for at least 50 other members of the cytokine/interleukin family. Current interests in the laboratory include studies on both the molecular details of STAT dependent signaling, as well as the important role STATs play in transducing the biological response to a number cytokines (e.g., IFNs, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12). For the latter studies, the laboratory exploits murine models of innate and adaptive immune response. This includes animal models of models of asthma, atherosclerosis, infectious disease and cancer.

Publications (partial):

1. Schindler, C., Shuai, K., Prezioso, V., Darnell, JE. (1992). Interferon-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of a latent cytoplasmic transcription factor. Science 257, 809-813.

2. Gupta, S., Pablo, AM., Jiang, X-c., Wang, N., Tall. AR., Schindler C. (1997). IFN-gamma potentiates atherosclerosis in apoE knock-out mice. J. Clin. Invest. 99, 2752-2761.

3. Azam, M., Lee, C., Strehlow, I., Schindler C. (1997). Functional distinct isoforms of Stat5 are generated by protein processing. Immunity 6, 691-701.

4. Strehlow, I. and Schindler C. (1998). Amino terminal STAT domains regulate nuclear translocation and STAT deactivation. J. Biol. Chem., 273, 28049-28056.

5. Collum, B., Brutsaert, S., Lee, G., and Schindler C. (2000). A Stat3 Interacting Protein (StIP1) Regulates Cytokine Signal Transduction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA. 97, 10120-10125.

6. Park, C., Li, S., Cha, E., Schindler, C. (2000) Immune response in Stat2 knock-out mice. Immunity 13, 795-804.

7. Song, L., Leung, C., Schindler, C. (2001). Lymphocytes are important in atherosclerosis. J. Clin. Invest., 108, 251-259.

8. Kisseleva, T., Bhattacharya, S., Schröder-Braunstein, J., Schindler, C. (2002) Signaling through the JAK/STAT pathway, recent advances and future challenges. Gene 285, 1-24.

9. Schindler, C. (2002) JAK-STAT signaling in human disease. J. Clin. Invest. 109, 1133-1137.

10. Battacharya, S. & Schindler, C. (2003) Regulation of Stat3 nuclear export. J. Clin. Invest. 111, 553-559.

11. Braunstein, J., Brutsaert, S., Olson, R., Leung, C.,. and Schindler, C. (2003) STATs dimerize in the absence of phosphorylation. J. Biol. Chem., In press.