Francis J. Castellino

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Francis J. Castellino (also known as Frank Castellino) is an American biochemist and professor at University of Notre Dame. He is known for his contributions to the study of hemostasis, infection, and inflammation, particularly in relation to sepsis. He has extensively researched the Streptococcus pyogenes strain AP53, focusing on bacterial and mouse transgenesis and genetics. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Frank Castellino grew up in Pittston, Pennsylvania. [2] He received a B.S. degree in chemistry in 1964 from the University of Scranton, followed by a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1968 from the University of Iowa. [3] He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship supported by the National Institutes of Health at Duke University. [4]

Career

Castellino began his academic career at the University of Notre Dame in 1970 as an assistant professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry. He became a full professor in 1977 and was appointed Kleiderer-Pezold Professor of Biochemistry in 1982. [3]

From 1979 to 2002, he served as the dean of the Notre Dame College of Science, overseeing advancements in research and education in the sciences. [5] [6] In 1996, he founded what would become known as the W. M. Keck Center for Transgene Research at Notre Dame. The center was renamed in 1998 after receiving funding from the W. M. Keck Foundation to expand its infrastructure. [7] [8]

Castellino has conducted research in numerous areas within the field of fibrinolysis, hemostasis, and inflammation. He has investigated the biochemical properties of plasminogen and its role in fibrinolysis, especially Kringle 2 domain; [9] [10] developed gene knockout and mutant mice models in hemostasis studies; [11] explored the interaction between Group A Streptococcus and host proteins to understand bacterial pathogenesis; [12] [13] studied Vitamin K-dependent gamma-carboxylated peptides from venomous cone snails as models for protein coagulation domains; [14] and carried out studies on Angiostatin. [15]

Honors and awards

Castellino has been recognized with the NIH Research Career Development Award (1974–1979), a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1974–1979), the Educator of the Year Award, Michiana Executive Journal (1995), and the Wyeth-ISFP Prize for Research in Fibrinolysis (2008). [16]

He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1988. [17]

Castellino received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Scranton (1982) and the University of Waterloo (1994). [18] [19] [20]

Editorial roles

Castellino has served as editor-in-chief of Current Drug Targets (1998–2024) and as an editorial board member of Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, and Frontiers of Structural Biology.

Personal life

He is married and his three children all graduated from the University of Notre Dame. [2]

References

  1. ↑ "Francis J. Castellino Profile". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  2. 1 2 McCool, Deanna Csomo (6 April 2020). "Former Dean Castellino celebrates 50 years at the University of Notre Dame". College of Science. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 "People and Places". BioScience. 32 (8): 700–703. 1 September 1982. doi:10.1093/bioscience/32.8.700.
  4. ↑ "Indiana University Faculty Profile". Indiana University. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  5. ↑ "People and Places". BioScience. 29 (8): 498–501. 1 August 1979. doi:10.1093/bioscience/29.8.498.
  6. ↑ "Area Briefs". South Bend Tribune. 16 Dec 2001. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "W. M. Keck Foundation Annual Reports". W. M. Keck Foundation. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  8. ↑ "Grant to fund N.D. medical research". South Bend Tribune. 28 Aug 1998. p. B3. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  9. ↑ Castellino FJ, Beals JM (1987). "The genetic relationships between the kringle domains of human plasminogen, prothrombin, tissue plasminogen activator, urokinase, and coagulation factor XII". J. Mol. Evol. 26 (4): 358–369. Bibcode:1987JMolE..26..358C. doi:10.1007/BF02101155. PMID   3131537. S2CID   22249781.
  10. ↑ Rios-Steiner, J.L.; Schenone, M.M.; Mochalkin, I.; Tulinsky, A.; Castellino, Francis J. (2001). "Structure and binding determinants of the recombinant kringle-2 domain of human plasminogen to an internal peptide from a Group A Streptococcal surface protein". Journal of Molecular Biology. 308 (4): 705–719. doi:10.1006/jmbi.2001.4646. PMID   11350170.
  11. ↑ Iwaki, T.; Malinverno, C.; Smith, D.; Xu, Z.; Castellino, Francis J. (2021). "Plasminogen Deficiency Significantly Reduces Vascular Wall Disease in a Murine Model of Type IIa Hypercholesterolemia". Biomedicines. 9 (12): 1832. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9121832 . PMC   8698429 . PMID   34944648.
  12. ↑ "Speaker Profile – Infectious Congress". Infectious Congress. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  13. ↑ Yuan, Y.; Ayinuola, Y.A.; Singh, D.; Mayfield, J.A.; Quek, A.; Whisstock, J.C.; Law, R.H.P.; Lee, L.; Francis J., Castellino (2019). "Solution structural model of the complex of the binding regions of human plasminogen with its M-protein receptor from Streptococcus pyogenes". Journal of Structural Biology. 208 (1): 18–29. doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2019.07.005. PMC   6983471 . PMID   31301349.
  14. ↑ Holmes, A.; Zhou, N.; Donahue, D.L.; Balsara, R.; Castellino, Francis J. (2018). "A deficiency of the GluN2C subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor is neuroprotective in a mouse model of ischemic stroke". Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 495 (1): 136–144. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.10.171. PMID   29101031.
  15. ↑ Abad, Marta C.; Arni, R.K.; Grella, Davida K.; Castellino, Francis J.; Tulinsky, Alexander; Geiger, James H. (2002-05-10). "The X-ray Crystallographic Structure of the Angiogenesis Inhibitor Angiostatin". Journal of Molecular Biology. 318 (4): 1009–1017. doi:10.1016/S0022-2836(02)00211-5. PMID   12054798.
  16. ↑ "Briefs". South Bend Tribune. 9 July 2008. p. E4. ProQuest   417563166 . Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "AAAS Members Elected as Fellows on 15 February 1988". Science. 240 (4853): 810–811. 6 May 1988. Bibcode:1988Sci...240..810.. doi:10.1126/science.240.4853.810.
  18. ↑ "Honorary Degree Recipients". University of Scranton. Scranton, PA. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  19. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Granted". University of Waterloo. Waterloo, ON. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  20. ↑ "Nine to receive honorary degrees from UW". Kitchner Waterloo Record. 21 Apr 1994. p. B2. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
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