Laboratory of Molecular Medical Biochemistry

Head: Paweł DOBRZYŃ

Staff: Zofia Pilch, Tomasz Bednarski, Aneta Kulińska

Research profile:

Laboratory is focused on cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart dysfunctions. The research involves in vivo and in vitro studies of signaling pathways and transcription factors associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis and pathogenesis of left ventricle hypertrophy. One of the main goals is to establish the role of SCD1 and SCD4 genes and pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling cascades involved in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Current research activities:

• identifying functional interactions between SCD activity and development of myocardial hypertrophy;
• studies on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFa, IL-6, IL-8) in regulation of cardiac function;
• determining signal transduction and genetic abnormalities in obesity-related heart dysfunction.

Selected publications:

Dobrzyn P, Pyrkowska A, Jazurek M, Dobrzyn A: Increased availability of endogenous and dietary oleic acid contributes to the upregulation of cardiac fatty acid oxidation. Mitochondrion 2012; 12: 132-137.

Dobrzyn P, Dobrzyn A, Miyazaki M, Ntambi JM: Loss of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 rescues cardiac function in obese leptin-deficient mice. J Lipid Res. 2010; 51: 2202-2210.

Dobrzyn P, Pyrkowska A, Jazurek M, Szymanski K, Langfort J, Dobrzyn A: Endurance training-induced accumulation of muscle triglycerides is coupled to upregulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1. J. Appl. Physiol. 2010; 109: 1653-1661

Dobrzyn P, Jazurek M, Dobrzyn A: Stearoyl-CoA desaturase and insulin resistance – What is the molecular switch. Biochim Biophys Acta – Bioenerg. 2010; 1797: 1189-1194.

Dobrzyn P, Sampath H, Dobrzyn A, Miyazaki M, Ntambi JM: Loss of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 inhibits fatty acid oxidation and increases glucose utilization in the heart. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2008; 294: E357-364.