Michael received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F30 MD/PhD Fellowship) for his project “The Role of Acetyl-CoA Metabolism in Epigenetic Regulation of Myofibroblast Differentiation”. Congrats Mike!
Pooja Jadiya Awarded K99
Pooja Jadiya was awarded an NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to enable her transition to independent faculty. The project is focused on “The role of mitochondrial calcium uptake in Alzheimer's disease”.
Review published in Circulation Research
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Andrew and Michael’s review article titled “Myofibroblasts and Fibrosis: Mitochondrial and Metabolic Control of Cellular Differentiation” was published in the July 17th issue of Circulation Research (PMID: 32673537).
Review published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology
Joanne’s review article with lab alumnus Tim Luongo, titled “The debate continues - What is the role of MCU and mitochondrial calcium uptake in the heart?” (PMID:32353353) was published in the June 2020 issue of Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology as part of a Special Issue, Unsolved mysteries and controversies of mitochondria in the heart.
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Dhanendra Tomar awarded K99
Dhanendra Tomar was awarded an NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to enable his transition to independent faculty. Congrats DT!
Joanne Garbincius Awarded Postdoctoral Fellowship
Joanne was awarded an NIH F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship for her project on “Molecular Modulation of the Mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger as a novel therapeutic target for heart failure”. Congrats Joanne!
COMMENTARY published in Expert Opinions on Therapeutic Potential OF TARGETING MCUB
Jonathan and Emma’s review article titled “ MCUB and mitochondrial calcium uptake - modeling, function, and therapeutic potential” was published in Expert Opinions on Therapeutic Potential. (PMID: 32093523)
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mitochondrial calcium exchange links metabolism, with the epigenome to control cell differentiation
Alyssa’s thesis work was published in the October issue of Nature Communication.
"Our experiments show that the accumulation of fibrotic cells results directly from mitochondrial calcium-dependent genetic reprogramming involving α-ketoglutarate, which changes the structure of chromatin, or DNA packaging - a phenomenon referred to as epigenetics, that is important in regulating gene expression," Dr. Elrod said. This the first time that extracellular signals directly modifying mitochondrial function have been linked to alterations in the cell nucleus for the formation of myofibroblasts.
"The key finding that a change in mitochondrial calcium uptake plays a central role in metabolic and genetic reprogramming presents new opportunities for investigation," explained Dr. Elrod. "We hope that the new pathways we've identified as essential to myofibroblast formation can be manipulated to treat fibrotic disease."
News portals highlighting the work:
A new mechanism regulating the mitochondrial calcium uniporter published in Circulation
Jonathan published his thesis work defining a how MCUB alters the stoichiometry of the uniporter to modulate mitochondrial calcium uptake during stress.
The new research, published in the journal Circulation, identifies MCUB as a promising new target for the treatment of conditions that feature calcium overload and cell death – conditions that include heart failure, heart attack, stroke, and neurodegeneration.
“MCUB fine-tunes calcium uptake by mitochondria in injured heart tissue, in an attempt to limit calcium overload, which is a major contributor to cell death, particularly following a heart attack,” explained John W. Elrod, PhD, Associate Professor in the Center for Translational Medicine at the Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine and senior investigator on the new study.
Lambert JP, Luongo TS, Tomar D, Jadiya P, Gao E, Zhang X, Lucchese AM, Kolmetzky DW, Shah NS, Elrod JW. MCUB regulates the molecular composition of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter channel to limit mitochondrial calcium overload during stress. Circulation. 2019 Sep 19. 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.037968
News portals highlighting the work:
A new hypothesis for Alzheimer's disease progression published in Nature Communications
In the labs first foray into neurodegeneration, we report that alterations in mitochondrial calcium exchange proceed histopathology and cognitive decline in multiple Alzheimer’s disease (AD) models. The Pooja Jadiya led study also showed that these same mitochondrial alterations occur in the brains of patients diagnosed with sporadic AD. Her work has garnered numerous awards and been featured by numerous news outlets.
Jadiya P, Kolmetzky DW, Tomar D, Meco AD, Lombardi AA, Lambert JP, Luongo TS, Ludtmann MH, Praticò D, Elrod JW. Impaired mitochondrial calcium efflux contributes to Alzheimer’s disease progression. Nat Commun. 2019 Aug 29
A few of the news stories:
Dhanendra Tomar receives AHA Career Development Award
DT, a senior postdoc in the lab, was awarded an American Heart Association Career Development Award for his proposal to define how mitochondrial structure is regulated in the context of ischemia-reperfusion injury. With this award DT will be transitioning to faculty position in the near future.
Andrew Gibb Awarded NIH F32
Andrew Gibb was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship (F32) from the NIH to study “Metabolic Control of Cellular Differentiation and the Fibrotic Response.”
Gibb and Elrod Commentary on ALDH2 contributing to atherosclerosis
Andrew and John published a commentary entitled, “Not just correlative: a new pathway defines how an ALDH2 SNP contributes to atherosclerosis” published in the January issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (PMID: 30507608).
EMMA MURRAY AWARDED NIH FELLOWSHIP
Emma Murray (PhD Candidate) was awarded a five year fellowship from the NIH (NRSA, F31) for her proposal to characterize novel mitochondrial peptides in heart failure.
NCLX PAPER PUBLISHED IN NATURE
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After a year of revisions the NCLX paper was finally accepted at Nature. The focus of the work was defining the contribution of the mitochondrial sodium/calcium exchanger in cardiac physiology and disease.
The work was featured in various news outlets:
Jonathan Lambert Awarded AHA Predoctoral GRANT
Jonathan (PhD Candidate) was awarded an American Heart Association (AHA) Predoctoral Fellowship for his proposal on the function of MCUB in cardiac physiology.
ALYSSA Lombardi AWARDED AHA PREDOCTORAL Fellowship
Alyssa Lombardi (MD/PhD candidate) was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the AHA for her proposed work on understanding necrosis.
TIM Luongo AWARDED AHA PREDOCTORAL Fellowship
Tim was awarded the AHA predoctoral grant for his proposal on MCU's contribution to heart failure.
PAPER PUBLISHED IN CELL REPORTS
The lab published its first original research article in Cell Reports. The focus of the work was defining the contribution of MCU-mediated calcium uptake to cardiac physiology and disease. Congrats to Tim on his first paper! The work was also picked up by many news outlets.
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