Michael Brown, M.D.

Michael S. Brown received a BA degree in Chemistry in 1962 and an MD degree in 1966 from the University of Pennsylvania. He was an intern and resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Earl Stadtman at the National Institutes of Health. In 1971, he came to UT Southwestern where he rose through the ranks to become a professor in 1976. He is currently Paul J. Thomas Professor of Molecular Genetics and Director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics at  UT Southwestern.

Dr. Brown and his long-time colleague, Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein, together discovered the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, which controls the level of cholesterol in blood and in cells. They showed that mutations in this receptor cause Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a disorder that leads to premature heart attacks in one out of every 500 people in most populations. They have received many awards for this work, including the U.S. National Medal of Science and the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology.

Undergraduate	University of Pennsylvania (1962)
Medical School	University of Pennsylvania (1966)

• Genetics of human disease
• Mechanism of vesicular transport in animal cells
• Regulation of cholesterol metabolism and membrane composition

Featured Publications

Protein sensors for membrane sterols.

Goldstein, J.L., DeBose-Boyd, R.A. and Brown, M.S. Cell 2006 124 35-46

Regulated intramembrane proteolysis: A control mechanism conserved from bacteria to humans.

Brown, M.S., Ye, J., Rawson, R.B., and Goldstein, J.L. Cell 2000 100 391-398

The SREBP pathway: Regulation of cholesterol metabolism by proteolysis of a membrane-bound transcription factor.

Brown, M.S. and Goldstein, J.L. Cell May 1997 89 331-340

Inhibition of purified p21ras farnesyl: Protein transferase by Cys-AAX tetrapeptides.

Reiss, Y., Goldstein, J.L., Seabra, M.C., Casey, P.J., and Brown, M.S. Cell 1990 62 81-88

A receptor-mediated pathway for cholesterol homeostasis.

Brown, M.S., and Goldstein, J.L. Science April 1986 232 34-47

Bifurcation of insulin signaling pathway in rat liver: mTORC1 required for stimulation of lipogenesis, but not inhibition of gluconeogenesis.

Li, S., Brown, M.S. and Goldstein, J.L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2010 107 3441-3446

Ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) is essential for growth hormone-mediated survival of calorie-restricted mice.

Zhao, T.-J., Liang, G., Li, R.L., Xie, X., Sleeman, M.W., Murphy, A.J., Valenzuela, D.M., Yancopoulos, G.D., Goldstein, J.L., and Brown, M.S. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2010 107 7467-7472

HDL miR-d down by SREBP introns.

Brown, M.S., Ye, J., and Goldstein, J.L. Science 2010 328 1495-1496

Ghrelin secretion stimulated by Beta1-adrenergic receptors in cultured ghrelinoma cells and in fasted mice.

Zhao, T.-J., Sakata, I., Li, R.L., Liang, G., Richardson, J.A., Brown, M.S., Goldstein, J.L., and Zigman, J.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2010 107 15868-15873

Identification of surface residues on Niemann-Pick C2 (NPC2) essential for hydrophobic handoff of cholesterol to NPC1 in lysosomes.

Wang, M.L., Motamed, M., Infante, R.E., Abi-Moshel, L., Kwon, H.J., Brown, M.S. and Goldstein, J.L. Cell Metab. 2010 12 166-173

• Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research
  (2003)
• Warren Alpert Foundation Prize
  (2000)
• US National Medal of Science
  (1988)
• Albert D. Lasker Prize in Basic Medical Research
  (1985)
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  (1985)

• American Society for Clinical Investigation
• Association of American Physicians
• Institute of Medicine
• Royal Society (London)
• U.S. National Academy of Sciences