Dr. David Ben-Menahem

Dr. David Ben-Menahem Profile

Senior lecturer
PhD, 1995

Department : Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology
School of Pharmacy
Room : 547
בנין מעבדות מחקר רפואה ע"ש דייכמן - פלאם
Phone : 972-8-6477485
Email : dbm@bgu.ac.il
Office Hours :  
Pharmacology, Gonado tropins, Protein, Drosophila, Biochemistry

Education

  • B.Sc.- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel
  • M.Sc.- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Cell Biology, Rehovot, Israel Thesis advisor: Prof. A. Globerson; Title of thesis: “Developmental aspects of T Lymphocytes in aging"
  • Practical Engineering (Handessai degree")-The Open University of Israel, School of Technology (Electronics), Tel-Aviv, Israel Project Advisor: Dr. G. Golan Title of project: “Electrical properties of the hair”
  • Ph.D.- Tel Aviv University, Department of Biochemistry, Tel-Aviv, Israel Thesis advisor: Prof. Z. Naor; Title of thesis: “Regulation of gonadotropin biosynthesis by GnRH and paracrine factors"

Research Interests

  • Mechanism of gonadotropin receptor activation;
  • Design of recombinant bovine gonadotropin for potential application in animal agriculture;
  • Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study potential geroprotective compounds.
  • Molecular and biochemical pharmacology of the gonadotropins and their receptors.
  • Post-translational modifications of recombinant proteins.
  • Human and animal reproduction

Research Topics

  • Gonadotropins and their receptors
  • Protein Engineering
  • Signal transduction
  • Drosophila

Major expertise and techniques in the lab

  • Molecular biology
  • Drosophila related techniques
  • Biochemical analysis of proteins

Publications and funding summary / representative publications and grants

  • Nurwakagari P., Breit A., Hess C., Salman-Livny H., Ben-Menahem D. and Gudermann T. A Conformational Contribution of the Luteinizing Hormone Receptor Ectodomain to Receptor Activation. J. Mol. Endocrinol. 38: 259-275, 2007.
  • Grinberg M, Nakav S., Pen S., Dantes A., Braw-Tal R., Amsterdam A., and Ben-Menahem D. The configuration of the alpha and beta subunit domains in single-chain bovine LH analogs influences the secretion and steroidogenic response. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. 283: 83-95, 2008.
  • Smeltzer Z., Karter M., Eisenstein M., Leto TL., Hadad N., Ben-Menahem D., Gitler D., Banani S., Wolach B., Rotem M., Levy R. Cytosolic phospholipase A2alpha is targeted to the p47phox-PX domain of the assembled NADPH oxidase via a novel binding site in its C2 domain. J Biol Chem. 283:31898-31908, 2008.

Existing collaborations

  • Dr. Ross L. Cagan
  • Dr. Eitan Rubin

Suggested multi-disciplinary research project / research focus topics

  • Gonadotropins bioinformatics
  • Potential extra gonadotropic activities of the gonadotropins (e.g., cancer, bone metabolism)