Recent Publications: (Selected from more than 150):

Festoff, B.W., Rao, J.S., and Hantaï, D., Plasminogen activators and inhibitors in the neuromuscular system: III. The serpin protease nexin I is synthesized by muscle and localized at neuromuscular synapses. J. Cell. Physiol. 147: 76-86. (1991).

Beecher, K.L., Andersen, T.T., Fenton, J.W., II and Festoff, B.W., Thrombin receptor peptides induce shape change in neonatal murine astrocytes in culture. J. Neurosci. Res. 37: 108-115. (1994).

Festoff, B.W., Reddy, R.B., VanBecelaere, M., Smirnova, I., and Chao, J., Activation of serpins and their cognate proteases in muscle after crush injury. J. Cell. Physiol. 159: 11-18. (1994).

Ho, G.J., Smirnova, I.V., Akaaboune, M., Hantaï, D., and Festoff, B.W., Serine proteases and their serpin inhibitors in Alzheimer's disease. Biomed. Pharmacother. 48: 296-304. (1994).

Ho, G.J., Gregory, E.J., Smirnova, I.V., Zoubine, M.N., and Festoff, B.W., Cross-linking of beta-amyloid precursor protein catalyzed by tissue transglutaminase. FEBS Lett. 349: 151-154. (1994).

Liu, Y., Fields, R.D., Festoff, B.W., and Nelson, P.G., Proteolytic action of thrombin is required for electrical activity-dependent synapse reduction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91: 10300-10304. (1994).

Liu, Y., Fields, R.D., Fitzgerald, S., Festoff, B.W., and Nelson, P G., Proteolytic activity, synapse elimination, and the Hebb synapse. J. Neurobiol. 25: 325-335. (1994).

Smirnova, I.V., Ho, G.J., Fenton, J.W., II., and Festoff, B.W., Extravascular proteolysis and the nervous system: serine protease/serpin balance. Semin. Thrombos. Hemostas. 20: 426-432. (1994).

Akaaboune, M., Verdière-Sahuqué, M., Lachkar, S., Festoff, B.W., and Hantaï, D., Serine protease inhibitors in human skeletal muscle: The expression of b-amyloid protein precursor and a1-antichymotrypsin in vivo and during myogenesis in vitro. J. Cell. Physiol., 165: 503-511 (1995).

Carter, R.E., Cerosaletti, K.M., Burkin, D.J., Fournier, R.E.K., Jones, C., Greenberg, B.D., Citron, B.A., and Festoff, B. W., The gene for the serpin thrombin inhibitor (P17), protease nexin I, is located on human chromosome 2q33-q35 and on syntenic regions in the mouse and sheep genomes. Genomics 27:196-199 (1995).

Houenou, L.J., Turner, P.L., Li, L., Oppenheim, R.W., and Festoff, B.W., A serine protease inhibitor, protease nexin I, rescues motoneurons from naturally occurring and axotomy-induced cell death. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 895-899. (1995).

Tian, W.H., Festoff, B.W., Blot, S., Diaz, J., and Hantaï, D., Synaptic transmission blockade increases plasminogen activator activity in mouse skeletal muscle poisoned with botulinum toxin type A. Synapse 20: 24-32. (1995).

Verdière-Sahuqué, M., Akaaboune, M., Lachkar, S., Festoff, B.W., Jandrot-Peruss, M., Garcia, L., Barlovatz-Meimon, G., and Hantaï, D., Myoblast fustion promotes the appearance of active protease nexin I on human muscle cell surfaces. Exp. Cell Res. 222: 70-76 (1996).

Festoff, B.W., Nelson, P.G., and Brenneman, D.E., Prevention of activity-dependent neuronal death: Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide stimulates astrocytes to secrete the thrombin-inhibiting, neurotrophic serpin, protease nexin I. J. Neurobiol., 30, 255-266 (1996).

Smirnova, I.V., Ma, J.Y., Citron, B.A., Ratzlaff, K.T., Gregory, E.J., Akaaboune, M., and Festoff, B.W., Kinetics of neural thrombin and protease nexin I kinetics induced by murine peripheral nerve injury. J. Neurochem., 67:2188-2199, (1996).

Citron, B.A., Ratzlaff, K.T., Smirnova, I.V., and Festoff, B.W.: Protease nexin I (PNI) in mouse brain is expressed from the same gene as in seminal vesicle. J. Molec. Neurosci., 7:183-191 (1996).

Festoff, B.W., Citron, B.A., and Smirnova, I.V. Shifts in the thrombin:protease nexin I balance in postnatal and degenerative synapse elimination. In: The Synapse: In development, health, and disease (Festoff, B.W., Hantaï, D., and Citron, B.A., Co-editors), Advances in Organ Biology (Bittar, E.E. Ed), JAI Press, Inc., Greenwich, CT), 367-393. (1996).

Zoubine, M.N., Ma, J.Y., Smirnova, I.V., Citron, B.A. and Festoff, B.W. A molecular mechanism for synapse elimination: Novel inhibition of locally-generated thrombin delays synapse loss in neonatal mouse muscle. Dev. Biology, 179, 447-457. (1996).

Citron, B.A., Zhang, S.X., Smirnova, I.V., and Festoff, B.W. Apoptotic, injury-induced cell death in model motor neurons. Neurosci. Lett., 230, 25-28. (1997).

Citron, B.A., Smirnova, I.V., Zoubine, M.N., and Festoff, B.W. Quantitative PCR analysis of prothrombin mRNA levels in developing mouse muscle. Thrombos. Res. 87, 303-313. (1997).

Lai, E.C., Felice, K.J., Festoff, B.W., Gawel, M.J., Gelinas, D.F., Kratz, R., Murphy, M.F., Natter, H.M., Norris, F.H., Jr., and Rudnicki, S.A.: Efficacy of recombinant insulin-like growth factor I in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel treatment trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurology 49,1621-1630. (1997).

Smirnova, I.V., Salazar, A.M., Handler, M., Glatt, S., Citron, B.A., Gregory, G., Arnold, P.M. and Festoff, B.W.: Active thrombin and prothrombin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with degenerative, malignant and traumatic disorders. Thromb. Haemostas. 78,1473-1479. (1997).

Festoff, B.W.: The pre-clinical evidence supporting the rationale use of insulin-like growth factor I in the treatment of motor neuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Drugs of Today 34,65-77. (1998).

Smirnova, I.V., Citron, B.A., Arnold, P.M., Zhang, S.X., and Festoff, B.W.: Characterization of apoptosis in a motor neuron cell line. Spine 23,1-8. (1998).

Smirnova, I.V., Zhang, S.X., Citron, B.A., Arnold, P.M. and Festoff, B.W.: Thrombin is a death signal that activates intracellular death protease pathways in motor neurons. J. Neurobiology 36, 64-80. (1998).

Turgeon, V.L., Lloyd, E.D., Wang, S-W., Festoff, B.W. and Houenou, L.J.: Thrombin perturbs neurite outgrowth and induces apoptotic cell death in chick spinal motoneuron cultures through caspase activation. J. Neurosci. 18, 6882-6891. (1998).

Smirnova, I.V., Vamos, S., Wiegmann, T., Citron, B.A., Arnold, P.M. and Festoff, B.W.: Calcium mobilization and protease-activated receptor cleavage after thrombin stimulation in motor neurons. J. Molec. Neurosci. 10, 31-44. (1998).

Pindon, A., Festoff, B.W. and Hantaï, D.: Reversion of astrocyte stellate shape induced by thrombin is mediated by activation of protein kinase C isoforms a, and b-1. Eur. J. Biochem. 255:766-774. (1998).

Salcedo, R.M., Festoff, B.W. and Citron , B.A.: Quantitative reverse-transcription PCR to gauge increased protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR-1) mRNA copy numbers in the wobbler mutant mouse. J. Molec. Neurosci. 10, 1-7. (1998).

Akaaboune, M., Hantaï, D., Smirnova, I.V., Lachkar, S., Kapsimal, M. Verdière-Sahuqué, M. and Festoff, B.W.: Developmental regulation of the serpin, protease nexin I, during activity-dependent polyneuronal synapse elimination in mouse skeletal muscle. J. Comp. Neurol. 397, 572-579. (1998).

Chou, S.M., Taniguchi, A., Wang, H.S. and Festoff, B.W.: Serpin:serine protease-like complexes in neurofilament conglomerations of motoneurons in familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J. Neurolog. Sci. 160, (Suppl. 1); 73-79, 1998.

Arnold, P. M., Ma, J.Y., Citron, B. A. and Festoff, B.W.: Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in cerebrospinal fluid during human development and aging. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 264:652-656, 1999.

Arnold, P.M., Ma, J.Y., Smirnova, I.V., Zoubine, M.N., Avery, M.E., Huaibo, S., Citron, B.A. and Festoff, B.W.: Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins (IGFBPs) in mouse spinal cord during development. Spine (in press), 1999.

Akaaboune, M., Allinquant, B., Farza, H., Roy, K., Magoul, R., Fiszman, M., Festoff, B.W. and Hantaï, D.: The ß-amyloid precursor protein is developmentally-regulated and correlates with the maturation of neuromuscular junctions in mouse skeletal muscle. Cell. Molec. Neurosci. (in press), 2000.

Festoff, B.W.: Recombinant neurotrophic factors in the treatment of neurologic disease. BioDrugs (in press), 2000.

Festoff, B.W., Peng, J-H., Sebastian, C.T., Arnold, P.M., Davies, P.J..A. and Citron, B.A..: Injury upregulates expression of retinoic acid-inducible transglutaminase and a novel GTP-independent isoform in rat spinal cord (in review).

Citron, B.A. , Gregory, E.J., Steigerwalt, D.S., Qin, F. and Festoff, B.W.: Tissue transglutaminase gene and enzyme isoform expression is developmentally regulated in mouse muscle (in review).

Festoff, B.W., D'Andrea, M., Salcedo, R., Zoubine, M.N., Smirnova,I.V., Citron, B.A. and Andrade-Gordon, P.: Motor neuron cell death inWobbler mutant mice follows overexpression of the G-protein-coupled, protease-activated receptor for thrombin (in review).

Citron, B.A , ., Sebastian, C., Arnold, P.M. and.Festoff, B.W.: Upregulation of caspase 3 sub-family gene and activity early after spinal cord injury (in review).