David J. Glass

Glass helped to identify the mechanism by which muscles connect to nerves. Glass and his colleagues, including George Yancopoulos, discovered a receptor tyrosine kinase which they named "MuSK" (Muscle Specific Kinase, or MuSK protein). They went on to show that MuSK is required for the formation of the neuromuscular junction, the key structure which allows motor neurons to induce skeletal muscle to contract.{{cite journal |vauthors=DeChiara TM, Bowen DC, Valenzuela DM, etal |title=The receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK is required for neuromuscular junction formation in vivo |journal=Cell |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=501–12 |date=May 1996 |pmid=8653786 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81251-9|s2cid=17455481 |doi-access=free }} They next demonstrated that the ligand for MuSK is agrin, a protein secreted by the motor neuron to induce formation of the neuromuscular junction.{{cite journal |vauthors=Glass DJ, Bowen DC, Stitt TN, etal |title=Agrin acts via a MuSK receptor complex |journal=Cell |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=513–523 |date=May 1996 |pmid=8653787 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81252-0|s2cid=14930468 |doi-access=free }}

Glass also cloned receptors for neurotrophic factors, such as TrkB, the receptor for BDNF, and showed that they were sufficient to mediate signaling without the requirement of the Low affinity Nerve Growth Factor receptor (LNGFR).{{cite journal |vauthors=Glass DJ, Nye SH, Hantzopoulos P, etal |title=TrkB mediates BDNF/NT-3-dependent survival and proliferation in fibroblasts lacking the low affinity NGF receptor |journal=Cell |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=405–13 |date=July 1991 |pmid=1649703 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(91)90629-D|s2cid=43626580 }}

Glass identified the E3 ubiquitin ligases, MuRF1 and FBXO32/MAFbx, which are upregulated during skeletal muscle atrophy; mice which are null for these ligases were found to have less loss of muscle under atrophic conditions.{{cite journal| url =https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1065874?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed | doi=10.1126/science.1065874 | title=Identification of Ubiquitin Ligases Required for Skeletal Muscle Atrophy | date=2001 | last1=Bodine | first1=Sue C. | last2=Latres | first2=Esther | last3=Baumhueter | first3=Susanne | last4=Lai | first4=Venus K.-M. | last5=Nunez | first5=Lorna | last6=Clarke | first6=Brian A. | last7=Poueymirou | first7=William T. | last8=Panaro | first8=Frank J. | last9=Na | first9=Erqian | last10=Dharmarajan | first10=Kumar | last11=Pan | first11=Zhen-Qiang | last12=Valenzuela | first12=David M. | last13=Dechiara | first13=Thomas M. | last14=Stitt | first14=Trevor N. | last15=Yancopoulos | first15=George D. | last16=Glass | first16=David J. | journal=Science | volume=294 | issue=5547 | pages=1704–1708 | pmid=11679633 | bibcode=2001Sci...294.1704B }}

He was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences{{Cite journal|pmc=11232304 |date=2024 |last1=Lee |first1=S. J. |last2=Spiegelman |first2=B. |last3=Campbell |first3=K. |title=David J. Glass elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences |journal=Skeletal Muscle |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=14 |doi=10.1186/s13395-024-00343-5 |doi-access=free |pmid=38982533 }} and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Earlier, he was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.{{Cite web|url=https://the-asci.org/controllers/asci/DirectoryController.php?action=bySpecialty&specialtyId=79 | title=Home }}

David Glass is the author of a book aimed at teaching students how to design biology experiments, titled "Experimental Design for Biologists." The book is in its 2nd edition, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.{{cite web| url =https://www.cshlpress.com/default.tpl?cart=1736745146262901944&fromlink=T&linkaction=full&linksortby=oop_title&--eqSKUdatarq=1020 | title=Experimental Design for Biologists, Second Edition }} In the initial chapters of his book, Glass argues against hypothesis testing as a framework for performing experiments, and instead suggests that experiments should initially be framed with questions, in order to stimulate the production of data. Once there is data, then that can be used to produce a model, which can next be tested for its predictive power. While he doesn't mention Bayesian reasoning, these suggestions are reminiscent of Bayesian methods. Glass also argued against hypothesis testing in an article titled, "A critique of the hypothesis, and a defense of the question, as a framework for experimentation.".{{cite web| url =https://academic.oup.com/clinchem/article-abstract/56/7/1080/5622360?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false | title=A Critique of the Hypothesis, and a Defense of the Question, as a Framework for Experimentation }}

Glass was the founding editor-in-chief of the Elsevier journal Skeletal Muscle.https://skeletalmusclejournal.biomedcentral.com

Glass wrote "Love + Science", which was produced Off-Broadway at City Center in New York City in the summer of 2023.,{{citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/theater/review-in-love-science-a-meet-cute-becomes-a-medical-mystery.html | title=Review: In 'Love + Science,' a Meet Cute Becomes a Medical Mystery }} and was reviewed by the editor-in-chief of Science (journal).{{citation|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0762?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed | title=Performing science A biologist captures the humanity of scientific research in a play about the AIDS crisis | doi=10.1126/science.adj0762 | url-access=subscription }}

• {{cite journal |vauthors=Glass DJ, Nye SH, Hantzopoulos P, etal |title=TrkB mediates BDNF/NT-3-dependent survival and proliferation in fibroblasts lacking the low affinity NGF receptor |journal=Cell |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=405–13 |date=July 1991 |pmid=1649703 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(91)90629-D|s2cid=43626580 }}
• {{cite journal |vauthors=DeChiara TM, Bowen DC, Valenzuela DM, etal |title=The receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK is required for neuromuscular junction formation in vivo |journal=Cell |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=501–12 |date=May 1996 |pmid=8653786 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81251-9|s2cid=17455481 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |vauthors=Glass DJ, Bowen DC, Stitt TN, etal |title=Agrin acts via a MuSK receptor complex |journal=Cell |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=513–23 |date=May 1996 |pmid=8653787 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81252-0|s2cid=14930468 |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |vauthors=Bodine S, Stitt TN, Gonzalez M, Kline WO, Stover GL, Bauerlein R, Zlotchenko E, Scrimgeour A, Lawrence JC, Glass DJ, Yancopoulos GD|title=Akt/mTOR pathway is a crucial regulator of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and can prevent muscle atrophy in vivo |journal=Nat Cell Biology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1014–1019 |date=2001 |pmid=11715023 |doi=10.1038/ncb1101-1014}}
• {{cite journal |vauthors=Bodine SC, Latres E, Baumhueter S, Lai VK, Nunez L, Clarke BA, Poueymirou WT, Panaro FJ, Na E, Dharmarajan K, Pan ZQ, Valenzuela DM, DeChiara TM, Stitt TN, Yancopoulos GD, Glass DJ|title=Identification of ubiquitin ligases required for skeletal muscle atrophy |journal=Science |volume=294 |issue=5547 |pages=1704–1708 |date=2001 |pmid=11679633 |doi=10.1126/science.1065874|bibcode=2001Sci...294.1704B }}

Honors – elected member

• American Society for Clinical Investigation (2004)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (2023)
• National Academy of Sciences (2024)

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Category:1961 births

Category:Living people

Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni

Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:American editors

Category:21st-century American biologists

Category:21st-century American scientists

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Category:Scientists from New York (state)

Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:American male dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century American male writers