Internship, Internal Medicine; University Hospital Innsbruck
1984 - 1989
University Assistant, Department of Biochemical Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Innsbruck, Austria
1989 - 1991
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
1991
Habilitation (Pharmacology and Toxicology), University of Innsbruck
1991 - 1998
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemical Pharmacology, University of Innsbruck
1994
License as "Facharzt" for Pharmacology and Toxicology
1998
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemical Pharmacology, University of Innsbruck
2001
Full Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy, Natural Sciences Faculty, University of Innsbruck, Austria
seminars / lectures in pharmacology, toxicology, clinical pharmacy and pharmacology
small group teaching in pharmacology and toxicology
physiology and pathophysiology for pharmacy students
School of Nursing
lectures in pharmacology and toxicology
Graduate program "Molecular Cell Biology"
lectures and seminars on "signal transduction, receptors and electrical excitability"
Continuing education of pharmacists and physicians
lectures and seminars on clinical pharmacology and drug therapy
Scientific Awards
Science award of the Ärztekammern für Tirol und Vorarlberg (1988)
Award of a Max-Kade Fellowship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (1989 - 1991)
Science award from the City of Innsbruck (1992, 2002)
International Albrecht Fleckenstein Award (2000)
Co - awardee on awards for young members of the research group (HOECHST awards 1997, 1998, 2000)
Wulf - Vater Dihydropyridine - award (1998)
Research Award for Scientific Excellence (Innsbruck Universities, 2011)
Tyrolean Research Award 2012
Phoenix Award in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, 2015)
Other activities
1998 -
Member of the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Innsbruck
2003 -
Member of the Academic Senate of the Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck
2001 – 2019
Coordinator of the Cooperative Neuroscience Research Network "Cell Signaling in Chronic CNS Disorders" (FWF SFB-F44)
since 2000
total research funding > EUR 4.1 mio
Evaluation of publication record (as of 07/2021)
Numer of citrations: 17,014 without self citations (Web of Science)
h - Index: 72
148 original publications, 24 reviews articles (with peer review)
Selected publications
Striessnig J, Murphy BJ, Catterall WA (1991) "The dihydropyridine receptor of L-type Ca2+ channels: Identification of binding domains for (+)-[3H]PN200-110 and [3H]azidopine within the α1 subunit" Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA): 88: 10769-10773
Striessnig J, Grabner M, Mitterdorfer J, Hering S, Sinnegger MJ, Glossmann H (1998) "Structural basis of drug binding to L-type Ca2+ channels" Trends Pharmacol Sci: 19: 108-115
Platzer J, Engel J, Schrott-Fischer A, Stephan K, Bova S, Chen H, Zheng H, Striessnig J (2000) "Congenital deafness and sinoatrial node dysfunction in mice lacking class D L-type Ca2+ channels" Cell: 102: 89-97
Koschak A, Reimer D, Huber IG, Grabner M, Glossmann H, Engel J, Striessnig J (2001) "α1D (Cav1.3) subunits can form L-type Ca2+ channels activating at negative voltages" J Biol Chem: 276: 22100-22106
Koschak A, Reimer D, Walter D, Hoda J-C, Heinzle T, Grabner M, Striessnig J (2003) "Cav1.4α1 subunits can form slowly inactivating dihydropyridine - sensitive L-type Ca2+ channels lacking Ca2+ - dependent inactivation" J Neurosci: 23: 6041-6049
Sinnegger-Brauns MJ, Hetzenauer A, Huber IG, Renström E, Wietzorrek G, Berjukov S, Cavalli M, Walter D, Koschak A, Waldschütz R, Hering S, Bova S, Rorsman P, Pongs O, Singewald S, Striessnig J (2004) "Cav1.3 L-type Ca2+-channels: Role for isoform-specific regulation of mood behavior, pancreatic β - cell and cardiovascular function" J Clin Invest: 113: 1430-1439
Singh A, Hamedinger D, Hoda JC, Gebhart M, Koschak A, Romanin C, Striessnig J (2006) "C-terminal modulator controls Ca2+-dependent gating of Cav 1.4 L-type calcium channels" Nature Neurosci: 9: 1108-1116
Baig SM, Koschak A, Lieb A, Gebhart M, Dafinger C, Nurnberg G, Ali A, Ahmad I, Sinnegger-Brauns MJ, Brandt N, Engel J, Mangoni ME, Farooq M, Khan HU, Nurnberg P, Striessnig J, Bolz HJ (2011) "Loss of Cav1.3 (CACNA1D) function in a human channelopathy with bradycardia and congenital deafness" Nature Neurosci: 14: 77-84
Bock G, Gebhart M, Scharinger A, Jangsangthong W, Busquet P, Poggiani C, Sartori S, Mangoni ME, Sinnegger-Brauns MJ, Herzig S, Striessnig J, Koschak A (2011) "Functional Properties of a Newly Identified C-terminal Splice Variant of Cav1.3 L-type Ca2+ Channels." J Biol Chem 286:42736-48
Azizan EA, Poulsen H, Tuluc P, Zhou J, Clausen MV, Lieb A, Maniero C, Garg S, Bochukova EG, Zhao W, Shaikh LH, Brighton CA, Teo AE, Davenport AP, Dekkers T, Tops B, Kusters B, Ceral J, Yeo GS, Neogi SG, McFarlane I, Rosenfeld N, Marass F, Hadfield J, Margas W, Chaggar K, Solar M, Deinum J, Dolphin AC, Farooqi IS, Striessnig J, Nissen P, Brown MJ (2013) "Somatic mutations in ATP1A1 and CACNA1D underlie a common subtype of adrenal hypertension." Nat Genet 45:1055-60
Ortner N, Bock G, Vandael DH, Mauersberger R, Draheim HJ, Gust R, Carbone E, Tuluc P Striessnig J (2014) "Pyrimidine 2, 4, 6-triones are a new class of voltage-gated L-type calcium channel activators." Nat Commun, Jun 19;5:3897. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4897
Pinggera A, Lieb A, Benedetti B, lampert M, Monteleone S, Liedl KR, Tuluc P, Striessnig J (2015) CACNA1D de novo mutations in autism spectrum disorders activate Cav1.3 L-type Ca2+ channels. Biol Psychiatry 77: 816-822
Zamponi GW, Striessnig J, Koschak A, Dolphin AC (2015) The Physiology, Pathology, and Pharmacology of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels and Their Future Therapeutic Potential. Pharmacol. Rev. 67, 821–870
Ortner NJ, Bock G, Dougalis A, Kharitonova M, Duda J, Hess S, Tuluc T, Pomberger T, Stefanova N, Pitterl F, Ciossek T, Oberacher H, Draheim HJ, Kloppenburg P, Liss B, Striessnig J (2017) Lower Affinity of Isradipine for L-Type Ca2+ Channels during Substantia Nigra Dopamine Neuron-like Activity: Implications for Neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease. J Neurosci 37: 6761-6777
Benkert J, Hess S, Roy S, Beccano-Kelly D, Wiederspohn N, Duda J, Simons C, Patil K, Gaifullina A, Mannal N, Dragicevic E, Spaich D, Müller S, Nemeth J, Hollmann H, Deuter N, Mousba Y, Kubisch C, Poetschke C, Striessnig J, Pongs O, Schneider T, Wade-Martins R, Patel S, Parlato R, Frank T, Kloppenburg P, Liss B (2019) Cav2.3 channels contribute to dopaminergic neuron loss in a model of Parkinson’s disease. Nat Commun 10:5094.
Hofer NT, Tuluc P, Ortner NJ, Nikonishyna YV, Fernándes-Quintero ML, Liedl KR, Flucher BE, Cox H, Striessnig J (2019) Biophysical classification of a CACNA1D de novo mutation as a high-risk mutation for a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. Mol Autism 11:4
Liss B, Striessnig J (2019) The Potential of L-Type Calcium Channels as a Drug Target for Neuroprotective Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 59: 263-289
Ortner NJ, Kaserer T, Copeland JN, Striessnig J (2020) De novo CACNA1D Ca2+ channelopathies: clinical phenotypes and molecular mechanism. Pflugers Arch 472:755-773
Striessnig J (2021) Voltage-Gated Ca2+-Channel α1-Subunit de novo Missense Mutations: Gain or Loss of Function - Implications for Potential Therapies (Front Synaptic Neurosci 13:634760