ASU SoLS Faculty: Charles Arntzen

Charles J. Arntzen was appointed to the Florence Ely Nelson Presidential Endowed Chair at Arizona State University in Tempe in 2000 and as Regents Professor in 2004. He served as the Founding Director of The Biodesign Institute until May, 2003, and as Co-Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology of that Institute until 2007. He currently serves as Director for two NIH-funded Cooperative Research Centers at ASU - one for Hepatitis C vaccine development, and a second for mucosal vaccines and microbicides to prevent sexually-transmitted infections.

Dr. Arntzen held previous faculty positions at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, and visiting professorships in the Laboratoire de Photosynthese du CNRS in France, the Department of Applied Mathematics in Canberra, Australia, and the Academia Sinica in Beijing, China. He also served as a research scientist with the USDA and as the director of the Michigan State University-Plant Research Laboratory (funded by the Department of Energy). In 1984 he joined the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware as Director of Plant Science and Microbiology and was later promoted to Director of Biotechnology in the Agricultural Products Department. In 1988 he was appointed Dean and Deputy Chancellor for Agriculture at Texas A&M University, and subsequently served as Director of the University's Plant Biotechnology Program of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology. From 1995-2000, Dr. Arntzen served as President and CEO of Boyce Thompson Institute - a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with Cornell University.

Dr. Arntzen was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1983 and to the National Academy of Sciences in India the following year. He is a fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science and also of the American Society of Plant Biologists, received the Award for Superior Service from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for international project leadership in India, the American Society of Plant Biology Leadership in Science Public Service Award in 2004, and the Botanical Society of America Centennial Award in 2007. He received the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa from Purdue University in 1997, the University of Minnesota in 2003, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2008. He has been a member of numerous national and international committees that serve general scientific interests, and in 2003 was awarded the Selby Fellowship by the Australian Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the University of Chicago for the Argonne National Laboratory and served as chairperson of their Science and Technology Advisory Committee. He served as chairman of the National Biotechnology Policy Board of the National Institutes of Health, as chairman of the National Research Council's Committee on Biobased Industrial Products, and on the National Research Council's Committee on Space Biology and Medicine. He served for eight years on the Editorial Board of SCIENCE.

Dr. Arntzen served until 1998 on the Board of Directors of DeKalb Genetics, Inc. and on the Board of Directors of Third Wave Agbio, Inc. and on the Scientific Advisory Board for Sumitomo Chemical Company in Osaka, Japan until 2001. He now serves on the Board of Directors of Advanced BioNutrition, Inc., and is on the Advisory Board of the Burrill and Companys Agbio Capital Fund and The Nutraceuticals Fund, and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Advanced BioNutrition, Inc. He also serves as a Distinguished Advisor on the Council for Biotechnology. In 2001 he was appointed as a member of President George W. Bush's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and in 2004 he was appointed by the President to serve on the National Nanotechnology Oversight Board.

Dr. Arntzen's primary research interests are in plant molecular biology and protein engineering, as well as the utilization of plant biotechnology for enhancement of food quality and value, for expression of pharmacologically active products in transgenic plants, and for overcoming health and agricultural constraints in the developing world. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the development of plant-based vaccines for human disease prevention (with special emphasis on needs of poor countries) and for disease prevention in animal agriculture. Recently this research has been extended to creation of effective vaccines and therapeutics to reduce the threats of biowarfare agents.

Dr. Arntzen received his bachelor's and masters degrees from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He is married to Kathy (Lang) Arntzen, and the father of one son, Christopher Arntzen, a partner in the Corporate Division of the Baker and Botts law firm in Houston, Texas.

Selected Publications | CV (PDF)

L Santi, L Batchelor, Z Huang, B Hjelm, J Kilbourne, C J. Arntzen, Q Chen, H S. Mason (2008) An efficient plant viral expression system generating orally immunogenic Norwalk virus-like particles. Vaccine 26, 1846�1854.

Kim TG, Kim MY, Kim BG, Kang TJ, Kim YS, Jang YS, Arntzen CJ, Yang MS (Jan 2007) Synthesis and assembly of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit in transgenic lettuce (Lactuca sativa)., Protein expression and purification, 51 (1), 22-7

Lee KY, Kim DH, Kang TJ, Kim J, Chung GH, Yoo HS, Arntzen CJ, Yang MS, Jang YS (Dec 2006) Induction of protective immune responses against the challenge of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae by the oral administration of transgenic tobacco plant expressing ApxIIA toxin from the bacteria., FEMS immunology and medical microbiology, 48 (3), 381-9

van der Laan JW, Minor P, Mahoney R, Arntzen C, Shin J, Wood D (May 2006) WHO informal consultation on scientific basis for regulatory evaluation of candidate human vaccines from plants, Geneva, Switzerland, 24-25 January 2005., Vaccine, 24 (20), 4271-8

Saldaña S, Esquivel Guadarrama F, Olivera Flores Tde J, Arias N, López S, Arias C, Ruiz-Medrano R, Mason H, Mor T, Richter L, Arntzen CJ, Gómez Lim MA (2006) Production of rotavirus-like particles in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) fruit by expression of capsid proteins VP2 and VP6 and immunological studies., Viral immunology, 19 (1), 42-53

Santi L, Giritch A, Roy CJ, Marillonnet S, Klimyuk V, Gleba Y, Webb R, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Jan 2006) Protection conferred by recombinant Yersinia pestis antigens produced by a rapid and highly scalable plant expression system., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103 (4), 861-6

Huang Z, Santi L, LePore K, Kilbourne J, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Mar 2006) Rapid, high-level production of hepatitis B core antigen in plant leaf and its immunogenicity in mice., Vaccine, 24 (14), 2506-13

Arntzen C, Plotkin S, Dodet B (Mar 2005 ) Plant-derived Vaccines and Antibodies: Potential and Limitations., Vaccine, 23(15), 1753-6

Huang Z, Elkin G, Maloney BJ, Beuhner N, Arntzen CJ, Thanavala Y, Mason HS ( Mar 2005) Virus-like Particle Expression and Assembly in Plants: Hepatitis B and Norwalk Viruses., Vaccine, 23(15), 1851-8

Maloney BJ, Takeda N, Suzaki Y, Ami Y, Li TC, Miyamura T, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Mar 2005 ) Challenges in Creating a Vaccine to Prevent Hepatitis E., Vaccine, 23(15), 1870-4

Thanavala Y, Mahoney M, Pal S, Scott A, Richter L, Natarajan N, Goodwin P, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Mar 2005) Immunogenicity in Humans of An Edible Vaccine for Hepatitis B., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America., 102(9), 3378-82

Arntzen C, Plotkin S, Dodet B (Mar 2005) Plant-derived vaccines and antibodies: potential and limitations., Vaccine. 23 (15), 1753-6

Huang Z, Elkin G, Maloney BJ, Beuhner N, Arntzen CJ, Thanavala Y, Mason HS (Mar 2005) Virus-like particle expression and assembly in plants: hepatitis B and Norwalk viruses.,Vaccine. 23 (15), 1851-8

Maloney BJ, Takeda N, Suzaki Y, Ami Y, Li TC, Miyamura T, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Mar 2005) Challenges in creating a vaccine to prevent hepatitis E., Vaccine. 23 (15), 1870-4

Thanavala Y, Mahoney M, Pal S, Scott A, Richter L, Natarajan N, Goodwin P, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS (Mar 2005) Immunogenicity in humans of an edible vaccine for hepatitis B., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (9), 3378-82

Matoba N, Magerus A, Geyer BC, Zhang Y, Muralidharan M, Alfsen A, Arntzen CJ, Bomsel M, Mor TS ( Sep 2004) A Mucosally Targeted Subunit Vaccine Candidate Eliciting HIV-1 Transcytosis-blocking Abs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America., 101(37), 13584-9

Rigano MM, Alvarez ML, Pinkhasov J, Jin Y, Sala F, Arntzen CJ, Walmsley AM (Feb 2004) Production of a fusion protein consisting of the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin B subunit and a tuberculosis antigen in Arabidopsis thaliana, Plant Cell Reports, 22(7), 502-8.

Walmsley AM (Feb 2004) Production of a fusion protein consisting of the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin B subunit and a tuberculosis antigen in Arabidopsis thaliana, Plant Cell Reports, 22(7), 502-8

Mor, T.S., Mason, H.S., Kirk, D.D., Arntzen, C.J. and Cardineau, G.A. (2004) Plants as Production and Delivery Vehicle for Orally Delivered Subunit Vaccines. In New Generation Vaccines, M.M. Levine, R. Rappuoli, M.A. Liu and M.F. Good, Editors. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York-Basel. Third Edition; p. 305-312.

Mason HS, Chikwamba R, Santi L, Mahoney RT, Arntzen CJ (2004) Antigen delivery systems: Transgenic plants for mucosal vaccines. In: Mucosal Immunology, 3rd Edition. Section D. Mucosal Vaccines (McGhee JR, Mestecky JF, Eds) Elsevier Science, London, 2004, pp. 1053-1060.

Peterson, R.K.D., Arntzen, C.J. (2004) On risk and plant-based biopharmaceuticals. TRENDS in Biotechnology. 22: 2: 64-66.

Smith, M.L., C.J. Arntzen, M.L. Shuler, H.S. Mason (2003) Structural characterization of plant-derived hepatitis B surface antigen employed in oral immunization studies. Vaccine. 21:4011-21.

Walmsley, A.M., M.L. Alvarez, Y. Jin., D.D. Kirk, S.M. Lee, J. Pinkhasov, M.M. Rigano, C.J. Arntzen, H.S. Mason (2003) Expression of the B subunit of Escherichia coli heat-liable enterotoxin as a fusion protein in transgenic tomato, Plant Cell Reports, 21, 1020-1026

Arntzen CJ, Coghlan A, Johnson B, Peacock J, Rodemeyer M (October 2003) GM crops: science, politics and communication, Nature Reviews. Genetics, 4(10), 839-43

Arntzen, C. J., Coghlan, A., Johnson, B., Peacock, J., Rodemeyer, M. (2003) GM crops: science, politics and communication. Nature Reviews, Genetics. 4: 839-843.

Walmsley, A.M., Arntzen, C.J. (2003) Plant cell factories and mucosal vaccines. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 14:145150

Rigano, M.M., Sala, F., Arntzen, C.J., Walmsley, A.M. (2003) Targeting of plant-derived vaccine antigens to immunoresponsive mucosal sites. Vaccine. 21:809-811.

Arntzen, C.J., Pitman, S. (2003) Biotechnology. In: Encyclopedia of Food and Culture (Charles Scribner's Sons/The Gale Group Publishers).

Joshi, L., Van Eck, J.M., Mayo, K., Di Silvestro, R., Blake (Nieto), M.E., Ganapathi, T., Haridas, V., Gutterman, J.U., Arntzen, C.J. (2002) Metabolomics of plant saponins; Bioprospecting triterpene glycoside diversity with respect to mammalian cell targets. OMICS: Journal of Integrative Biology. 6:3:235-246.

Mason, H.S., Warzecha, H., Mor, T., Arntzen, C.J. (2002) Edible plant vaccines: applications for prophylactic and therapeutic molecular medicine. TRENDS in Molecular Medicine. 8:324-329.

Arntzen, C.J. (2001) Keynote Lecture: Agricultural biotechnology. J. Sci. Food Agric. 81:805-809.

Ganapathi, T.R., Higgs, N.S., Balint-Kurti, P.J., Arntzen, C.J., May, G.D., Van Eck, J.M. (2001) Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of embryogenic cell suspensions of the banana cultivar Rasthali (AAB). Plant Cell Reports. 20:157-162.

Haridas, V., Arntzen, C.J., Gutterman, J.U. (2001) Avicins, a family of triterpenoid saponins from Acacia victoriae (Betham), inhibit activation of nuclear factor-kB by inhibiting both its nuclear localization and ability to bind DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:11557-11562.

Hanausek, M., Ganesh, P., Walaszek, Z., Arntzen, C.J., Slaga, T.J., Gutterman, J.U. (2001) Avicins, a family of triterpenoid saponins from Acacia victoriae (Bentham), suppress H-ras mutations and aneuploidy in a murine skin carcinogenesis model. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:11551-11556.

Haridas, V., Higuchi, M., Jayatilake, G.S., Bailey, D., Mujoo, K., Blake, M., Arntzen, C.J., Gutterman, J.U. (2001) Avicins: Triterpenoid saponins from Acacia victoriae (Bentham) induce apoptosis by mitochondrial perturbation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:5821-5826.

Kong Q, Richter L, Yang Y-F, Arntzen CJ, Mason HS, Thanavala Y. (2001) Oral Immunization with hepatitis B antigen expressed in transgenic plants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:11539-11544.

Arntzen, C.J., Chalmers, I. (2001) The risks and rewards of biotechnology. Gastronomica. 1:31-34.

Mor, T.S., Sternfeld, M., Soreq, H., Arntzen, C.J., Mason, H.S. (2001) Expression of recombinant human acetylcholinesterase in transgenic tomato plants. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 75:259-266.

Bosque-Prez, N.A., G.D. May, and C.J. Arntzen. (2000) Applicability of an Agrobacterium-based system for the transformation of Musa species with diverse genomic constitution and ploidy level. Acta Horticulturae. 540: 193-202.

Arntzen, C.J. (2000) Plant-Derived Oral Vaccines: From Concept to Clinical trials. In: International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies 25th Session. (A. Zichichi, R. Ragaini, eds.) World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore. pp 124-127.

Richter, L.J., Y. Thanavala, C.J. Arntzen, H.S. Mason. (2000) Production of hepatitis B surface antigen in transgenic plants for oral immunization. Nature Biotechnology. 18:1167-1171.

Tacket, C.O., H.S. Mason, G. Losonsky, M.K. Estes, M.M. Levine, C.J. Arntzen. (2000) Human immune responses to a Novel Norwalk virus vaccine delivered in transgenic potatoes. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 182:302-305.

Walmsley, A.M., C.J. Arntzen. 2000. Plants for delivery of edible vaccines. Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2000) 11:126-129.

Arntzen, C.J., D.D. Kirk. 2000. Vaccination. McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology, (2000) pp 434-435.

Mor, T.S. and C.J. Arntzen (1999) Pharmaceutical foodstuffs: Oral immunization with transgenic plants. Proc. of the IXth International Congress of the International Association of Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology. (A. Altman. M. Viv, S. Izhar, eds.) Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht. pp 17-20.

Kirk, D.D., Mason, H.S. and C.J. Arntzen. (1999) Transgenic plants as vaccine delivery systems - A proof of concept. In: Molecular Intervention in Disease. Proc. of the Fifth Annual Ranbaxy Science Foundation Symposium. pp 51-55.

Walmsley, A.M., H.S. Mason, and C.J. Arntzen. (1999) The development of transgenic plants as edible vaccines. Mucosal Immunology Update. 7:12-14.

Beetham, P.R., P.B. Kipp, X.L. Sawycky, C.J. Arntzen, and G.D. May. (1999) A tool for functional plant genomics: Chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides cause in vivo gene-specific mutations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:8774-8778.

Palmer, K.E., C.J. Arntzen, G. Lomonossoff. (1999) Antigen delivery systems: Transgenic Plants and Recombinant Plant Viruses. In: Mucosal Immunology (2nd edition) (P.L. Ogra, J. Mestecky, M.E. Lamm, W. Strober, J. Bienenstock and J. R. McGhee, eds.) Academic Press, San Deigo, CA., Ch. 49: 793-807.

Wong, Sunny Y., K.S. Ho, H.S. Mason, and C.J. Artnzen. (1998) Edible Vaccines. Science & Medicine, 5:36-45.

Arntzen, C.J. (1998) Afraid of a potato. (Letters to the Editor) The Washington Post, May 9, p. A13.

Miller, H.I., C.J. Arntzen, R.N. Beachy, R.J. Cook, S.L. Huttner, D. Kennedy, C.O. Qualset, P.H. Raven, A.K. Vidaver. (1998) Some issues for the biosafety protocol. (Letter) Nature, 392:221.

Mason, H.S., C.J. Arntzen. (1998) Edible vaccines -- the future for pediatric vaccines delivery? Vaccines: Children & Practice, 1:13-15.

Tacket, C.O., H.S. Mason, G. Losonsky, J.D. Clements, M.M. Levine, C.J. Arntzen. (1998) Immunogenicity in humans of a recombinant bacterial antigen delivered in a transgenic potato. Nature Medicine, 4:607-609.

Arntzen, C.J. (1998) Pharmaceutical foodstuffs-Oral immunization with transgenic plants. Nature Medicine (Vaccine Supplement). 4:502-503.

Clendennen, S.K., R. Lopez-Gomez, M. Gomez-Lim, C.J. Arntzen, G.D. May. (1998) The abundant 31-kilodalton banana pulp protein is homologous to class-III acidic chitinases. Phytochemistry, 47:613-619.

Mason, H.S., C.O. Tacket, L.J. Richter, C.J. Arntzen. (1998) Subunit vaccines produced and delivered in transgenic plants as edible vaccines. Res. Immunol., 149:71-74.

Mason, H.S., T.A. Haq, J.D.Clements, C.J. Arntzen. (1998) Edible vaccine protects mice against E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT): potatoes expressing a synthetic LT-B gene. Vaccine, 16:1336-1343.

Dixon, R.A., C.J. Arntzen. (1997) Transgenic plant technology entering the era of metabolic engineering. TIBTECH, 15: 441-444.

Arntzen, C.J. (1997) Edible Vaccines. Public Health Rep., J. U.S. Public Health Service, Boston, MA, 112:191-197.

Arntzen, C.J. (1997) High-tech herbal medicine: Plant-based vaccines. Nat. Biotechnology, 15:221-222.

Arntzen, C.A., H.S. Mason. (1997) Oral vaccine production in the edible tissues of transgenic plants. In: New Generation Vaccines -2nd edition (M.M. Levine, G.C. Woodrow, J.B. Kaper, G.S. Cobon, eds.). Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY. pp. 263-277.

Arntzen, C.A. (1996) Edible vaccines produced in transgenic plants. In: The Jordan Report,. Natl. Inst. Allergy Infect. Dis., Div. Microbiol. Infect. Dis., NIH, Bethesda, MD, pp. 43-48.

Mason, H.S., J.M. Ball, J.-J. Shi, X. Jiang, M.K. Estes and C.J. Arntzen. (1996) Expression of Norwalk virus capsid protein in transgenic tobacco and potato and its oral immunogenicity in mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:5335-5340.

Richter, L., H.S. Mason, C.J. Arntzen. (1996) Transgenic plants created for oral immunization against diarrheal diseases. J. Travel Med. 3:52-56.

May, G.D., R. Afza, H.S. Mason, A. Wiecko, F.J. Novak and C.J. Arntzen. (1995) Generation of transgenic banana (Musa acuminata) plants via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Bio/Technology 13:486-492.

Mason, H.S. and C.J. Arntzen. (1995) Transgenic plants as vaccine production systems. TIBTECH. 13:388-392.

Haq T.A., H.S. Mason, J.D. Clements, C.J. Arntzen. (1995) Oral immunization with a recombinant antigen produced in transgenic plants. Science 268:714-716.

Thanavala Y., Y.-F. Yang, P. Lyons, H.S. Mason and C.J. Arntzen. (1995) Immunogenicity of transgenic plant-derived hepatitis B surface antigen. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:3358-3361.

Arntzen, C.J., H.S. Mason, J.J. Shi, T.A. Haq, M.K. Estes and J.D. Clements. (1994) Production of candidate oral vaccines in edible tissues of transgenic plants. In: Vaccines '94, Modern Approaches to New Vaccines Including Prevention of AIDS. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, N.Y. pp 339-348.

Kung, S.D. and C.J. Arntzen. 1989. Plant Biotechnology. Butterworths, London, 423 pages. Arntzen, C.J. (1994) The Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, (Four-Volumes). 2600 pages.

Kyle, D.J., C.B. Osmond and C.J. Arntzen. (1987) Photoinhibition, Volume 9 of Topics in Photosynthesis. Elsevier Science Publishers, The Netherlands. 315 pages.

Arntzen, C.J., and C. Ryan. (1986) UCLA Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, New Series, Volume 48: Molecular Strategies for Crop Protection. Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York. 443 pages.

Staehlin, L.A., and C.J. Arntzen. (1986) Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series, Volume 19, Photosynthesis III, Photosynthetic Membranes and Light Harvesting Systems. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 802 pages.

Steinback, K.E., S. Bontiz, C.J. Arntzen, L. Bogorad. (1985) Molecular Biology of the Photosynthetic Apparatus. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York. 137 pages.