Anders Asbjørn Jensen

1995: M.Sc. (Pharm)
2001: Ph.D. 

1993-1994: Undergraduate Student at the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Bioscience, Novo Nordisk A/S.

1995-1997: Academic employee at Quality Assurance, Chemical Production, H. Lundbeck A/S.

1998-2001: Ph.D. Student at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, The Royal Danish School of Pharmacy.

2001-2006: Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

2006-present: Associate Professor at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

July 1998-January 1999: ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., San Diego, U.S.A.

September 2003-February 2004: Department of Physiology, Pharmazentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland.

2008: Recipient of DKK 80.000 from Aase and Ejnar Danielsen Foundation for the project “Studies of the mechanism of a novel cognitive enhancer”.

2008: Recipient of DKK 50.000 from Brødrene Hartmann Foundation for the project “Studies of the mechanism of a novel cognitive enhancer”.

2008: Recipient of DKK 96.716 from Direktør Ib Henriksen Foundation for the project “Equipment for electrophysiological recordings at ligand-gated ion chancels in oocytes”

2008: Recipient of DKK 70.000 from Augustinus Foundation for the project “Equipment for electrophysiological recordings at ligand-gated ion chancels in oocytes”

2008: Recipient of DKK 96.716 from Aase and Ejnar Danielsen Foundation for the project “A small compound library for screening at neurotransmitter receptors and transporters”

2008: Recipient of a three-years Research Scholarship from The Danish Medical Research Council (DKK 1.620.000 for operational expenses, 2009-2011)

2008: Recipient of DKK 250.000 from The Novo Nordisk Foundation for funding of the project “Molecular pharmacology studies of excitatory amino acid transporters and their ligands”

2008: Recipient of DKK 450.000 from The Carlsberg Foundation for funding of the project “Equipment for electrophysiological recordings and a compound library for studies of ligand-gated ion channels”

2008: Recipient of DKK 1.700.000 from The Lundbeck Foundation for funding of a PhD student for the project "Molecular pharmacology studies of the 5-HT₃ serotonin receptor and other Cys-loop receptors”. 

2009: Recipient of DKK 300.000 from The Carlsberg Foundation for the project “Purchase of FLEX Station³ for molecular pharmacology studies of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters”

2010: Recipient of DKK 250.000 from The Augustinus Foundation for the project “Molecular pharmacology studies of excitatory amino acid transporters and their ligands”

My research group is performing medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology studies of membrane-bound neurotransmitter receptors and transporters.

The research projects in the group can be divided into studies of ‘Cys-loop receptors’, a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels mediating the fast synaptic responses of the important neurotransmitters acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA and glycine, and studies of the excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) mediating the synaptic reuptake of glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS.

The aims of the research projects are 1) to discover and develop novel ligands with interesting pharmacological properties, such as subtype selectivity and allosteric activities, at the receptors/transporters 2) to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying Cys-loop receptor and EAAT function and 3) to study the physiological roles mediated by these receptors/transporters in native tissues.

• Post doc Bjarke Abrahamsen: “Molecular pharmacology of excitatory amino acid transporters and their ligands”
• Post doc Kirsten Høstgaard-Jensen: “Electrophysiological studies of GABA_A receptors and their ligands”
• PhD student Marianne L. Bergmann, “Molecular pharmacology of GABA_A receptor ligands”
• PhD student Sarah M. Trattnig: “Molecular pharmacology studies of the 5-HT₃ serotonin receptor and other Cys-loop receptors”
• PhD student Harriet Hammer: “Molecular pharmacology of GABA_A receptors”

• Professor Hans Bräuner-Osborne, miscellaneous projects
• Associate Professor Lennart Bunch, EAAT projects
• Associate Professor Bente Frølund, Cys-loop receptor projects
• Associate Professor Rasmus P. Clausen, iGluR project
• Associate Professor Thomas Balle, Cys-loop receptor projects
• Associate Professor Jesper L. Kristensen, nAChR project
• Associate Professor Uffe Kristiansen, Cys-loop receptor projects

60+ publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and as book chapters.

10 recent publications:        

Krzywkowski, K., P.A. Davies, P. Feinberg-Zadek, H. Bräuner-Osborne, and A.A. Jensen. High-frequency HTR3B variation associated with major depression dramatically augments the signaling of the human 5-HT_3AB receptor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:722-727 (2008).

Colleoni, S., A.A. Jensen, E. Landucci, E. Fumagalli, P. Conti, A. Pinto, M. De Amici,  D. Pellegrini-Giampietro, C. De Micheli, T. Mennini, and M. Gobbi. Neuroprotective effects of the novel glutamate transporter inhibitor (–)-3-hydroxy-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH-pyrrolo[3,4-d]-isoxazole-4-carboxylic acid, which preferentially inhibits reverse transport (glutamate release) compared to glutamate reuptake. J. Pharm. Exp. Ther. 326:646-656 (2008).

Sagot, E., A.A. Jensen, D.S. Pickering, X. Pu, M. Umberti, T.B. Stensbøl, B. Nielsen, Z. Assaf, B. Aboab, J. Bolte, T. Gefflaut, and L. Bunch. Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of (2S,4R)-2-amino-4-(3-(2,2-diphenylethylamino)-3-oxopropyl)pentanedioic acid – a novel selective inhibitor of human excitatory amino acid transporter subtype 2. J. Med. Chem. 51:4085–4092 (2008).

Jensen, A.A., P.A. Davies, H. Bräuner-Osborne, and K. Krzywkowski. 3B but which 3B? And that’s just one of the questions: the heterogeneity of human 5-HT₃ receptors. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 29:437-444 (2008).

Krzywkowski, K., P.A. Davies, A.J. Irving, H. Bräuner-Osborne, and A.A. Jensen. Characterization of the effects of four HTR3B polymorphisms on human 5-HT_3AB receptor expression and signalling. Pharmacogenet. Genomics. 18: 1027-1040 (2008).

Hansen, C.P., A.A. Jensen, J.K. Christensen, T. Liljefors, and B. Frølund. Novel acetylcholine and carbamoylcholine analogs: Development of a functionally selective a4b2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. J. Med. Chem. 51:7380–7395 (2008).

Jensen, A.A., M.N. Erichsen, C.W. Nielsen, T.B. Stensbøl, J. Kehler, and L. Bunch. Discovery of the first selective inhibitor of excitatory amino acid transporter subtype 1. J. Med. Chem. 52:912–915 (2009).

Armishaw, C., A.A. Jensen, T. Balle, R.J. Clark, K. Harpsøe, C. Skonberg, T. Liljefors, and K. Strømgaard. The rational design of a-conotoxin analogues targeting a7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Improved antagonistic activity by incorporation of proline derivatives. J. Biol. Chem. 284:9498-9512 (2009).

Armishaw, C.J., N. Singh, J.L. Medina-Franco, R.J. Clark, K.C.M. Scott, R.A. Houghten, and A.A. Jensen. A synthetic combinatorial strategy for developing a-conotoxin analogs as potent a7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists. J. Biol. Chem. 285:1809-1821 (2010).

Jensen, A.A., M.L. Bergmann, T. Sander, and T. Balle. Ginkgolide X is a potent antagonist of anionic Cys-loop receptors with a unique selectivity profile at glycine receptors. J. Biol. Chem. 285:10141-10153 (2010).