| Start Date: | 9/21/2016 | Start Time: | 4:00 PM |
| End Date: | 9/21/2016 | End Time: | 5:30 PM |
|
Event Description
BIOMED Seminar
Title:
Non-canonical Functions of PHD3 in Intervertebral Disc
Speaker:
Makarand V. Risbud, PhD
Biomed Professor of Orthopaedic Research & Director of Spine Research Program
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Professor and Co-Director
Cell and Developmental Biology PhD Program
Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences
Thomas Jefferson University
Abstract:
Since establishing an independent research program at Jefferson, one of the major focuses of Dr. Risbud's laboratory has been to investigate the importance of local environmental factors in regulating cell function in the intervertebral discs–the soft tissue between vertebrae that serves as shock absorbers in the spine.
Back pain is a ubiquitous condition and the second most prevalent neurological ailment in the United States, costing the country upwards of $100 billion each year. This painful syndrome is closely linked to degenerative changes that impair the function of the intervertebral disc. Dr. Risbud's lab’s work was the first to show a differential expression of HIF-1 in nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue and not in the annulus fibrosus and cartilage endplate within the intervertebral disc, as was commonly believed. Subsequent work clearly showed that NP cells exhibit uniquely stabilized HIF-1 and that this stability is controlled through the coordinated actions of prolyl-4-hydraxylases (PHD) 1-3. Interestingly, HIF-α proteins show a novel mode of regulation: PHD2, but not PHD3, controls HIF-1α turnover to an extent while HIF-2α resists PHD-mediated degradation.
In addition, Dr. Risbud's and his team's work demonstrated that HIF function in disc cells is refractory to regulation by FIH-1, an asparaginyl hydroxylase known to control HIF transcriptional activity. Their work over the past 13 years has defined several other regulators that control HIF-1 activity, including HSP70 and matricellular protein CCN2, and demonstrated a unique HIF-1 transcriptional program in this hypoxic tissue. They recently generated NP-specific HIF-1α null mice and demonstrated the vital role HIF-1 plays in cell survival and function. Overall, their work has firmly established that HIF-1 is indispensable in (and a master regulator of) NP cell adaptation to their unique hypoxic niche.
For more info, please visit drexel.edu/biomed.
Biosketch:
Makarand V. Risbud, PhD, is the director of the Spine Research Program at Thomas Jefferson University, where he supervises an interdisciplinary team of surgical spine fellows, post doc fellows, graduate students and technicians. He also co-supervises a lab devoted to translational disc biology, which is primarily funded through collaborations with industrial partners. This lab supports one full-time Research Assistant Professor and several spine fellows. Dr. Risbud also serve as a mentor in STEMPREP program that provides hands on lab experience to high school minority students that wish to do careers in science and technology. |
|
Location:
Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (PISB), Room 120, located on the northeast corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets. |
Audience:
Undergraduate StudentsGraduate StudentsFacultyStaff |
|
