Schoen W. Kruse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

After graduating from Ohio University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences, Dr. Kruse worked as a researcher at the Edison Biotechnology Institute in Athens, Ohio where he was involved in research focusing on the role of growth hormone in obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes. In the fall of the following year, he enrolled in the Graduate School at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Kruse received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Colorado in 2004 with an emphasis in alcohol research and structural biology. His thesis focused on the structural and biochemical characteristics of the odorant binding protein LUSH from Drosophila melanogaster. He used x-ray crystallography to determine the atomic structure of the protein LUSH, which was the first structure that identified a specific alcohol-binding site in a nonenzymatic protein. Dr. Kruse used this structure as a model to better understand the specific effects of alcohol in the human brain.

After completing his Ph.D., he trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Van Andel Research Institute, a cancer research institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His research focused on the roles of nuclear receptors in cancer, development, cholesterol homeostasis, and lifespan. His main focus of research was the orphan nuclear receptor COUP-TFII, a protein involved in heart development, vein and artery differentiation during development, and female reproduction. Dr. Kruse determined the atomic structure of COUP-TFII and identified a novel auto-repressed protein conformation that inhibited protein function in the absence of ligand. During his tenure as a postdoctoral fellow, he served as an adjunct professor in the Biomedical Sciences Department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan where he taught pharmacology.

Selected Publications
PubMed
Kruse S.W., Suino-Powell K, Zhou XE, Kretschman JE, Reynolds R, et al. (2008) Identification of COUP-TFII Orphan Nuclear Receptor as a Retinoic Acid–Activated Receptor. PLoS Biol 6(9): e227. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060227

Kruse, S.W., Bucci, B.K., Thode, A.B., Alvarado, S.M., Jones, D.N.M. Effect of n-Alcohols on the structure and stability of the Drosophila odorant binding protein Lush. Biochemistry 45(6):1693-701.

Kruse, S.W., Zhao, R., Smith, D.P., Jones, D.N.M. Structure of a specific alcohol-binding site defined by the odorant binding protein LUSH from Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Struct Biol 10:694-700 (2003).