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Professor Seamus Martin

Smurfit Professor of Medical Genetics (Genetics)
      
Profile Photo

Professor Seamus Martin

Smurfit Professor of Medical Genetics (Genetics)

 martinsj@tcd.ie

 3531896 1289/1289


Seamus Martin holds the Smurfit Chair of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (since 1999). He was elected to The Royal Irish Academy in 2006, to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2009 and to Academia Europaea in 2023. He served as President of the European Cell Death Organization (ECDO) from 2016-2018 and was awarded an ERC Advanced grant in 2021. He co-wrote (with Pete Delves, Dennis Burton and Ivan Roitt) the 11th, 12th and 13th Editions of the classic undergraduate Immunology textbook `Essential Immunology" and has served as Editor-in-Chief of The FEBS Journal (Cambridge, UK), an international life sciences journal, since 2014 to present. The Martin laboratory is interested in all aspects of programmed cell death, especially the links between cell death, inflammation and cancer. Some key papers: Introduction of annexin V-labelling, the gold standard for measuring apoptosis (Martin et al., 1995 J. Exp. Med.), Unravelling the apoptosis-associated caspase activation cascade (Slee et al., 1999 J. Cell Biol.), Oncogenic Ras promotes autophagic cell death (Elgendy et al., 2011 Molecular Cell), Apoptotic cells can be pro-inflammatory (Cullen et al., 2013 Molecular Cell; Henry et al., 2017 Molecular Cell), Parkin activation can promote apoptosis (Hollville et al., 2014 Molecular Cell; Carroll et al., 2014 Cell Reports) Discovery of the mechanism of activation of the IL-36 cytokine family (Henry et al., 2016 Cell Reports; Clancy et al., 2018 Cell Reports); ER Stress promotes inflammation via TRAIL receptors (Sullivan et al., 2020 Developmental Cell); IL-37 is pro-inflammatory via IL-36 receptor engagement (Sullivan et al., 2022 Science Immunology). Necrotic cell death either instigates inflammation (in sterile injury contexts) or is a key amplifier of inflammation (during infection). In both scenarios, molecules released from dead cells (collectively called DAMPs, damage-associated molecular patterns) trigger inflammation. However, exactly what constitutes a DAMP has been the subject of much debate. We are currently exploring the idea that members of the extended IL-1 family constitute the key DAMPs and how IL-1 family cytokines become activated/inactivated. We are also actively exploring how cell stress (e.g. due to chemotherapy) triggers inflammation. Editor-in-Chief of The FEBS Journal (since Jan 2014-present) Current and previous Editorial Board memberships: Cell Reports (Cell press), Science Signaling (AAAS), Oncogene (Deputy editor & Receiving Editor), The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Cell Death and Differentiation (Nature Publishing Group), Oncogenesis (Nature Publishing Group). "FEBS Open Bio (FEBS Press). National and international awards: Wellcome Trust Prize Fellowship Award (1994-1996) Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow Award (1996-2001) Science Foundation Ireland Awards (2002-07, 2008-14, 2015-20) The BA Charles Darwin Award (2005) The GlaxoSmithKline Award of The Biochemical Society UK (2006) Elected to The Royal Irish Academy (2006) Elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2009 The Boyle Medal (2015), Ireland"s highest scientific honor, awarded every 4 years. The ICDS Medal (2016), The major biannual award from the International Cell Death Society. European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant Awardee 2021-present Elected to Academia Europaea, 2023
  Antisera   Apoptosis   Apoptosis, molecular control   Autophagy   Biochemical Markers   Biological Markers   Biological Response Modifiers   Biology   Biomedical sciences   Caenorhabditis elegans   Cancer Biology   Cancer chemotherapeutic drugs- mode of action   Cancer chemotherapy   Cancer genetics and cell biology including metastasis   Cancer/Carcinogenesis   Caspase proteases   Cell and tissue maintenance, repair and ageing   Cell Communication   Cell Components   Cell cycle control   Cell Death   Cell Lines   Cellular, molecular and developmental immunology   Chemotherapeutic Agents   Chemotherapy   Chronic inflamation   Commercialisation of scientific research   Cytotoxic T cell Killing   DIABLO   Genetics   Genomic structure and function, molecular approaches to gene function   Granzymes   HIV virology and pathogenesis   Immune Enhancers   Immune system   Immune System Disorders   Immunity   Immunization   Immunogenetics   Immunology   Immunopathology   Immunotherapies for Cancer   Immunotherapy   In Vitro Testing, Trial Methods   Inflammation   INHIBITION   Innate immunology   Intra and intercellular signalling   Leukemia   Leukemias and lymphomas   Leukocyte Biology   Lymphocytes   Lymphoma   Medical Sciences, Research   Mitochondrial fission & fusion mechanisms   Molecular Biology   Molecular Cloning   Molecular Genetics   Molecular/Cellular Entities   Monoclonal Antibodies   OLIGOMERIZATION   Oncogenes, apoptosis and tumour development   Programmed Cell Death   PROTEIN   Proteins and Macromolecules   Proteomics   Screening of Drugs/Agents   SMAC   Tissue Culture   Toxicity and toxinology   Tumour immunology and immunotherapy   Vaccine   Virology and viral pathogenesis
Details Date
Scientific Consultant, Clontech Inc. Palo Alto, USA. 1995-present
Appointed to the Board of the European working group on Apoptosis. 1994
Appointed to Editorial Board, Cell Death & Differentiation. 1996-present
Senior Editor, 'Cell Death & Differentiation', Nature Publishing Group 2000-present
Scientific Advisory Board, Association for International Cancer Research, UK. 2003-present
PhD examiner for The University of Dundee, University of Bristol, University of Leicester, Dublin Institute of Technology, NUI Maynooth.
Medical Research Council, UK Appointments & Tenure committees 2003, 2005
External Assessor for full professor & Personal Chair appointments, Scripps Institute, La Jolla, USA; University of Dundee, UK; University of Melbourne, Australia. 2004 & 2005
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 1999 -
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1998 -
The Biochemical Society. 1987 -
Sullivan, G.P. and Davidovich, P. and Muñoz-Wolf, N. and Ward, R.W. and Hernandez Santana, Y.E. and Clancy, D.M. and Gorman, A. and Najda, Z. and Turk, B. and Walsh, P.T. and Lavelle, E.C. and Martin, S.J., Myeloid cell-derived proteases produce a proinflammatory form of IL-37 that signals via IL-36 receptor engagement, Science immunology, 7, (78), 2022, peade5728 , Notes: [cited By 1], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Wladek Minor, Mariusz Jaskolski, Seamus J. Martin, Zbigniew Dauter, Dr. Alexander Wlodawer"celebrating five decades of service to the structural biology community, The FEBS Journal, 288, (14), 2021, p4160--4164 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Emir Bozkurt, Heiko Düssmann, Manuela Salvucci, Brenton L. Cavanagh, Sandra Van Schaeybroeck, Daniel B. Longley, Seamus J. Martin, Jochen H. M. Prehn, TRAIL signalling promotes entosis in colorectal cancer, 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Gemayel R, Martin S.J, How to prepare and deliver a great talk, FEBS Journal, 286, (1), 2019, p39 - 45, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
Martin S.J, The FEBS Journal in 2019: ensuring that casks of vintage wine remain unspoiled, FEBS Journal, 286, (1), 2019, p4 - 7, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Boeltz S, Amini P, Anders H.-J, Andrade F, Bilyy R, Chatfield S, Cichon I, Clancy D.M, Desai J, Dumych T, Dwivedi N, Gordon R.A, Hahn J, Hidalgo A, Hoffmann M.H, Kaplan M.J, Knight J.S, Kolaczkowska E, Kubes P, Leppkes M, Manfredi A.A, Martin S.J, Maueröder C, Maugeri N, Mitroulis I, Munoz L.E, Nakazawa D, Neeli I, Nizet V, Pieterse E, Radic M.Z, Reinwald C, Ritis K, Rovere-Querini P, Santocki M, Schauer C, Schett G, Shlomchik M.J, Simon H.-U, Skendros P, Stojkov D, Vandenabeele P, Berghe T.V, van der Vlag J, Vitkov L, von Köckritz-Blickwede M, Yousefi S, Zarbock A, Herrmann M, To NET or not to NET:current opinions and state of the science regarding the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, Cell Death and Differentiation, 26, (3), 2019, p395 - 408, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
Galluzzi, L. and Vitale, I. and Aaronson, S.A. and Abrams, J.M. and Adam, D. and Agostinis, P. and Alnemri, E.S. and Altucci, L. and Amelio, I. and Andrews, D.W. and Annicchiarico-Petruzzelli, M. and Antonov, A.V. and Arama, E. and Baehrecke, E.H. and Barlev, N.A. and Bazan, N.G. and Bernassola, F. and Bertrand, M.J.M. and Bianchi, K. and Blagosklonny, M.V. and Blomgren, K. and Borner, C. and Boya, P. and Brenner, C. and Campanella, M. and Candi, E. and Carmona-Gutierrez, D. and Cecconi, F. and Chan, F.K.-M. and Chandel, N.S. and Cheng, E.H. and Chipuk, J.E. and Cidlowski, J.A. and Ciechanover, A. and Cohen, G.M. and Conrad, M. and Cubillos-Ruiz, J.R. and Czabotar, P.E. and D†Angiolella, V. and Dawson, T.M. and Dawson, V.L. and de Laurenzi, V. and de Maria, R. and Debatin, K.-M. and DeBerardinis, R.J. and Deshmukh, M. and Di Daniele, N. and Di Virgilio, F. and Dixit, V.M. and Dixon, S.J. and Duckett, C.S. and Dynlacht, B.D. and El-Deiry, W.S. and Elrod, J.W. and Fimia, G.M. and Fulda, S. and García-Sáez, A.J. and Garg, A.D. and Garrido, C. and Gavathiotis, E. and Golstein, P. and Gottlieb, E. and Green, D.R. and Greene, L.A. and Gronemeyer, H. and Gross, A. and Hajnoczky, G. and Hardwick, J.M. and Harris, I.S. and Hengartner, M.O. and Hetz, C. and Ichijo, H. and JÀÀttelÀ, M. and Joseph, B. and Jost, P.J. and Juin, P.P. and Kaiser, W.J. and Karin, M. and Kaufmann, T. and Kepp, O. and Kimchi, A. and Kitsis, R.N. and Klionsky, D.J. and Knight, R.A. and Kumar, S. and Lee, S.W. and Lemasters, J.J. and Levine, B. and Linkermann, A. and Lipton, S.A. and Lockshin, R.A. and López-Otín, C. and Lowe, S.W. and Luedde, T. and Lugli, E. and MacFarlane, M. and Madeo, F. and Malewicz, M. and Malorni, W. and Manic, G. and Marine, J.-C. and Martin, S.J. and Martinou, J.-C. and Medema, J.P. and Mehlen, P. and Meier, P. and Melino, S. and Miao, E.A. and Molkentin, J.D. and Moll, U.M. and Muñoz-Pinedo, C. and Nagata, S. and Nuñez, G. and Oberst, A. and Oren, M. and Overholtzer, M. and Pagano, M. and Panaretakis, T. and Pasparakis, M. and Penninger, J.M. and Pereira, D.M. and Pervaiz, S. and Peter, M.E. and Piacentini, M. and Pinton, P. and Prehn, J.H.M. and Puthalakath, H. and Rabinovich, G.A. and Rehm, M. and Rizzuto, R. and Rodrigues, C.M.P. and Rubinsztein, D.C. and Rudel, T. and Ryan, K.M. and Sayan, E. and Scorrano, L. and Shao, F. and Shi, Y. and Silke, J. and Simon, H.-U. and Sistigu, A. and Stockwell, B.R. and Strasser, A. and Szabadkai, G. and Tait, S.W.G. and Tang, D. and Tavernarakis, N. and Thorburn, A. and Tsujimoto, Y. and Turk, B. and Vanden Berghe, T. and Vandenabeele, P. and Vander Heiden, M.G. and Villunger, A. and Virgin, H.W. and Vousden, K.H. and Vucic, D. and Wagner, E.F. and Walczak, H. and Wallach, D. and Wang, Y. and Wells, J.A. and Wood, W. and Yuan, J. and Zakeri, Z. and Zhivotovsky, B. and Zitvogel, L. and Melino, G. and Kroemer, G., Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018, Cell Death and Differentiation, 2018, p1-56 , Notes: [cited By 1; Article in Press], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Martin, S.J., The FEBS Journal in 2018 â€" putting a bit of color in your life, and your figures, FEBS Journal, 285, (1), 2018, p4-7 , Notes: [cited By 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Sullivan, G.P. and Davidovich, P.B. and Sura-Trueba, S. and Belotcerkovskaya, E. and Henry, C.M. and Clancy, D.M. and Zinoveva, A. and Mametnabiev, T. and Garabadzhiu, A.V. and Martin, S.J., Identification of small-molecule elastase inhibitors as antagonists of IL-36 cytokine activation, FEBS Open Bio, 8, (5), 2018, p751-763 , Notes: [cited By 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Feltham, R. and Jamal, K. and Tenev, T. and Liccardi, G. and Jaco, I. and Domingues, C.M. and Morris, O. and John, S.W. and Annibaldi, A. and Widya, M. and Kearney, C.J. and Clancy, D. and Elliott, P.R. and Glatter, T. and Qiao, Q. and Thompson, A.J. and Nesvizhskii, A. and Schmidt, A. and Komander, D. and Wu, H. and Martin, S. and Meier, P., Mind Bomb Regulates Cell Death during TNF Signaling by Suppressing RIPK1's Cytotoxic Potential, Cell Reports, 23, (2), 2018, p470-484 , Notes: [cited By 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
  

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Bouchier-Hayes L & Martin SJ, CARDINAL roles in apoptosis and NFkappaB activation., Vitamins and Hormones, 67, 2004, p133 - 147, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Caspase detection and analysis in, editor(s)Edited by D. Hughes and H. Mehmet , Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis , Oxford, UK, Bios Scientific Publishers, 2003, pp233 - 253, [Creagh, E. M., Adrain C., and S.J Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Caspases: Structure, activation pathways and substrates in, X.-M. Yin and Z. Dong , In Essentials of Apoptosis-A guide for basic and Clinical Research, New Jersey,USA, Humana Press, 2003, pp3 - 12, [Murphy, B.M. and S.J Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Martin, S. J. , Caspase activation cascades in apoptosis., Chemtracts-Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 16, 2003, p352 - 360, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Caspase cascades in apoptosis in, editor(s)M. Los and H. Walczak , In Caspases-Their role in Cell Death and Cell Survival, New York, USA, Landes Bioscience/Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2002, pp41 - 51, [S.J Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Apoptosis and Cancer: an overview in, editor(s)S. J. Martin , In Apoptosis and Cancer , Austin, Texas, USA, S.J. Martin, 1997, pp1 - 8, [S.J. Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Apoptosis: an introduction in, S. J. Martin , In Apoptosis and Cancer , Austin, Texas, USA, Landes Bioscience Publishers, 1997, pp9 - 24, [Martin, S. J], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Annexin V in, editor(s)Edited by T. G. Cotter and S. J. Martin , a specific probe for apoptotic cells. In Techniques in Apoptosis: A User's Guide , Portland Press, London, S. J Martin,C.P.M, Reutelingsperger and D. R. Green, 1996, [S. J Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Cell-free apoptosis in, editor(s)Martin, S. J., and D. R. Green , In Techniques in Apoptosis: A User's Guide , Portland Press, London, S.J Martin and D. R. Green, 1996, [S.J Martin], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
S. J Martin,Amarante-Mendes, G. P., and Green, D. R, Cytotoxic lymphocyte killing enters the ICE age, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol, 406, 1996, p29 - 37, Journal Article, PUBLISHED

  


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Award Date
Institute of Biology of Ireland Gold Medal 1987
Human Frontier Science Program Organization Long-term Fellowship Award 1994
Wellcome Trust International Prize Travelling Fellowship Award. 1994
Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship in Biomedical Science 1997
Elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin. 2002
Science Foundation Ireland Fellow 2001
Scientific Advisory Board, Association of International Cancer Research, UK 2003
Short-listed for The Royal Irish Academy Boyle Medal 2002
Elected to the Board of Directors, International Cell Death Society, New York 2004
Elected to the Board of Directors of ECDO 2005
The BA Charles Darwin Award Lecture 2005
GlaxoSmithKline Award (Biochemical Society UK) 2005 2005
The Martin laboratory is interested in all aspects of programmed cell death, especially the links between cell death, inflammation and cancer. Some key papers: Introduction of annexin V-labelling, the gold standard for measuring apoptosis (Martin et al., 1995 J. Exp. Med.), Unravelling the apoptosis-associated caspase activation cascade (Slee et al., 1999 J. Cell Biol.), Oncogenic Ras promotes autophagic cell death (Elgendy et al., 2011 Molecular Cell), Apoptotic cells can be pro-inflammatory (Cullen et al., 2013 Molecular Cell; Henry et al., 2017 Molecular Cell), Parkin activation can promote apoptosis (Hollville et al., 2014 Molecular Cell; Carroll et al., 2014 Cell Reports) Discovery of the mechanism of activation of the IL-36 cytokine family (Henry et al., 2016 Cell Reports; Clancy et al., 2018 Cell Reports); ER Stress promotes inflammation via TRAIL receptors (Sullivan et al., 2020 Developmental Cell); IL-37 is pro-inflammatory via IL-36 receptor engagement (Sullivan et al., 2022 Science Immunology). Necrotic cell death either instigates inflammation (in sterile injury contexts) or is a key amplifier of inflammation (during infection). In both scenarios, molecules released from dead cells (collectively called DAMPs, damage-associated molecular patterns) trigger inflammation. However, exactly what constitutes a DAMP has been the subject of much debate. We are currently exploring the idea that members of the extended IL-1 family constitute the key DAMPs and how IL-1 family cytokines become activated/inactivated. We are also actively exploring how cell stress (e.g. due to chemotherapy) triggers inflammation Molecular Control of Apoptosis (programmed cell death). Natural Killer Cell and CTL proteases (particularly granzyme B) and their mode of action. The role of Bcl-2 family proteins in chemoresistance in cancer. The role of caspases in inflammation. IL-1 family cytokines and inflammation. Cell Stress and Inflammation. Cell Senescence and Inflammation. Cancer chemotherapy. Regulation of entry to cell senescence by chemotherapy.