Barry P. Rosen

Barry P. Rosen
Barry Philip Rosen
Born(1944-06-18)June 18, 1944
Hartford, Connecticut
EducationTrinity College (Connecticut), University of Connecticut
Known forDiscovery of genes for arsenic mtm
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry, especially handling of heavy metals
WorkplacesCornell University, Wayne State University, Florida International University
Academic advisors
Leon A. Heppel

Barry P. Rosen is an American biochemist and molecular biologist. He is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Florida International University (FIU) and was previously the Associate Dean for Basic Research and Graduate Programs at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM). Rosen is recognized for his pioneering research into the molecular mechanisms of toxic metalloid transport and detoxification, particularly regarding arsenic and antimony.

Early life and education

Rosen was born in Hartford, Connecticut on June 18, 1944 and graduated from Trinity College (Connecticut) with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Rosen conducted his graduate studies at the University of Connecticut[1] followed by an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University under the mentorship of Leon A. Heppel.

Career

Rosen has served as a professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he remains Distinguished Professor Emeritus, before joining FIU as Associate Dean at the HWCOM.[2]

Rosen held one of the longest-running continuously funded research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), spanning over 40 years of continuous support through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.[3]

Research and discoveries

Rosen's laboratory focuses on how cells transport, transform and detoxify heavy metals and metalloids.

Discovery of genes for the two arsenic biogeochemical cycles

Beginning in 1982, the Rosen laboratory identified the microbial genes and proteins of the environmental arsenic biogeochemical cycle, including arsenic transporters, transcriptional regulators, and enzymes of biotransformation, and characterized the encoded proteins at biochemical and structural levels.[4][5] Rosen demonstrated that there are multiple efflux transporters that reduce the intracellular concentration of arsenic, conferring resistance, such as the ArsAB pump and the related ArsD arsenic chaperone,[6] which was subsequently highlighted by the journal Nature in their "Research Highlights" coverage.[7] Rosen showed that the genes are regulated by members of the ArsR family of arsenic-responsive transcriptional repressors.[8]

In 2006, Rosen’s laboratory made a breakthrough with the co-discovery of the Rhodopseudomonas palustris arsM gene for arsenic methylation.[9] In a followup Rosen co-discovered the gene for a highly thermostable arsenic methyltransferase (ArsM) from a eukaryotic red alga found in Yellowstone National Park hotsprings. The study was selected by the editors of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) for special independent coverage in the journal's "In This Issue" section, which highlighted the work's importance in understanding evolutionary arsenic detoxification in extreme environments.[10] These studies led to the insight that an environmental organoarsenic biogeochemical cycle exists in parallel with the inorganic arsenic biogeochemical cycle.

Aquaglyceroporins and arsenic transport

In 1997, Rosen demonstrated that antimonite is transported into cells via the aquaglyceroporin GlpF in Escherichia coli.[11] Following this breakthrough, he collaborated with Nobel Laureate Peter Agre to establish that mammalian aquaglyceroporins (specifically AQP7 and AQP9) also facilitate the transport of toxic metalloids across mammalian cell membranes.[12] In recognition of this discovery, Agre credited Rosen by name during his December 8, 2003, Nobel Prize Lecture in Stockholm for uncovering the pathway by which arsenic enters human tissue.[13]

Environmental and agricultural impact

Rosen's research regarding how plants absorb and process toxic elements has had significant implications for global food safety, particularly concerning the world's rice supply.[14] His findings on the pathways of arsenic accumulation in paddy rice crops were prominently featured as independent secondary news items in Science magazine.[15] These studies have been summarized in a review article in Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.[16]

Discovery of arsinothricin

In 2019, Rosen co-led an international collaboration that discovered arsinothricin (AST), a novel arsenic-based, natural broad-spectrum antibiotic produced by soil bacteria. This research opened new avenues for targeting antibiotic-resistant pathogens.[17] The recognition that natural products containing arsenic can be antibiotics is described in a recent review article about arsensic in medicine.[18]

Awards and honors

  • Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (1980) for outstanding contributions to the field of microbiology[19]
  • Elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2014) for distinguished contributions to biochemistry and environmental toxicology.[20]
  • Elected a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (2023) in recognition of his achievements in translating academic research into impactful inventions and patents.[21]
  • ORCID 0000-0002-5230-4271
  • Complete bibliography at NCBI

References

  1. ↑ "The University of Connecticut Eighty-Seventh Annual Commencement". OpenCommons@UConn. University of Connecticut. June 1, 1970. p. 64. Retrieved 2026-07-19. The Graduate School
  2. ↑ "Barry Rosen, Ph.D." FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. 2026-06-22. Retrieved 2026-07-20.
  3. ↑ "Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) / MERIT Award Archive". National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health. Project Record: Mechanisms of Arsenic Transport and Detoxification. Continuous funding since 1984, ranking among the longest continuously funded projects in NIH history.
  4. ↑ Mobley HL, Rosen BP (October 1982). "Energetics of plasmid-mediated arsenate resistance in "Escherichia coli"". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 79 (20): 6119–6122. Bibcode:1982PNAS...79.6119M. doi:10.1073/pnas.79.20.6119. PMC 347070. PMID 6755463.
  5. ↑ Garbinski LD, Rosen BP, Chen J (May 2019). "Pathways of arsenic uptake and efflux". Environment International. 126: 585–597. Bibcode:2019EnInt.126..585G. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.02.058. PMC 6472914. PMID 30852206.
  6. ↑ Lin YF, Walmsley AR, Rosen BP (October 2006). "An arsenic metallochaperone for an arsenic detoxification pump". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (42): 15617–15622. doi:10.1073/pnas.0602704103. PMC 1622870. PMID 17032772.
  7. ↑ "Research Highlights". Nature. 443 (7114): 886–887. 2006. doi:10.1038/443886a.
  8. ↑ Lin YF, Yang J, Rosen BP (August 2008). "The ArsR/SmtB family of metalloregulatory proteins". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 283 (31): 21281–21285. doi:10.1074/jbc.M803209200. PMC 2533085. PMID 18502758.
  9. ↑ Qin J, Rosen BP, Zhang Y, Wang G, Franke S, Rensing C (March 2006). "Arsenic detoxification and evolution of trimethylarsine gas by a microbial arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (13): 5090–5095. doi:10.1073/pnas.0509638103. PMC 1413689. PMID 16549791.
  10. ↑ Waddell, W. J. (March 31, 2009). "In This Issue: A hot environment for arsenic methylation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (13): 4955–4956. doi:10.1073/iti1309106. PMC 2664057. PMID 19330104.
  11. ↑ Sanders OI, Rensing C, Kuroda M, Mitra B, Rosen BP (July 1997). "Antimonite is transported by the glycerol facilitator GlpF in Escherichia coli". Journal of Bacteriology. 179 (11): 3365–3367. doi:10.1016/s0304-3940(97)00235-8. PMC 179133. PMID 9159493.
  12. ↑ Liu Z, Shen J, Carbrey JM, Mukhopadhyay R, Agre P, Rosen BP (December 2002). "Arsenite transport by mammalian aquaglyceroporins AQP7 and AQP9". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 99 (24): 15554–15559. doi:10.1073/pnas.222494399. PMC 137757. PMID 12432098.
  13. ↑ Agre, Peter (December 8, 2003). Aquaporin Water Channels (Nobel Lecture) (Speech). Stockholm, Sweden: Nobel Prize Outreach AB. Nobel Lecture delivered in memory of Alfred Nobel.
  14. ↑ Duan GL, Hu Y, Schneider S, McDermott J, Chen J, Sauer N, Rosen BP, Daus B, Liu Z, Zhu YG (December 2015). "Inositol transporters AtINT2 and AtINT4 regulate arsenic accumulation in Arabidopsis seeds". Nature Plants. 2 (1) 15202. doi:10.1038/nplants.2015.202. PMC 4758254. PMID 27004129.
  15. ↑ Stone, Richard (July 11, 2008). "Arsenic and Paddy Rice: A Neglected Cancer Risk?". Science. 321 (5886): 184–185. doi:10.1126/science.321.5886.184. PMID 18621644.
  16. ↑ Zhu YG, Yoshinaga M, Zhao FJ, Rosen BP (May 2014). "Earth Abides Arsenic Biotransformations". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 42 (1): 443–467. Bibcode:2014AREPS..42..443Z. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-060313-054942. PMC 4712701. PMID 26778863.
  17. ↑ "Scientists discover new arsenic-based, broad-spectrum antibiotic". Florida International University Research News / EurekAlert!. April 2019. Press release regarding the discovery of arsinothricin (AST), a novel arsenic-based antibiotic.
  18. ↑ Paul NP, Galván AE, Yoshinaga-Sakurai K, Rosen BP, Yoshinaga M (April 2023). "Arsenic in medicine: past, present and future". BioMetals. 36 (2): 283–301. doi:10.1007/s10534-022-00371-y. PMC 8860286. PMID 35190937.
  19. ↑ "Academy Fellows Directory". American Academy of Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology. Retrieved June 26, 2026. (Rosen was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2002).
  20. ↑ FIU 2014-15 University Accountability Report (Report). Florida International University. March 11, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Congratulations 2023 NAI Senior Member Class" (PDF). National Academy of Inventors. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.