Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology

Silvia Guglietta, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology
CRI 206
guglietta@musc.edu

The focus of Guglietta lab is understanding how dysregulation of intestinal immunity affects disease development locally and at distant sites.
In recent years, it emerged that the perturbation of the intestinal homeostasis does not only affect the local microenvironment but can have profound consequences on distant tissue sites.
As such, the overall research interest of the lab is to understand how the interplay of intestinal immune responses and microbiome affect the development of diseases in the gastrointestinal tract as well as at distal sites.
Guglietta lab conducts translational research with the aim to understand the basic mechanisms of disease initiation and progression that are relevant to human diseases. Therefore, all of our projects start with findings in patients, which are then back-translated in relevant pre-clinical models that allow to study the detailed underlying mechanisms, with the ultimate goal to apply the new discoveries to prevent disease development in patients, improve existing treatment or identify new therapeutic avenues.
Ongoing research in Guglietta lab encompasses four main areas:

Interplay between complement anaphylatoxin C3a/C3aR axis, microbiota and immune responses in the development of colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases
The role of inflammation in the development and treatment of colorectal cancer
Identification of the immunological and microbial factors responsible for the disproportionate burden of colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in African Americans compared to Caucasian Americans
The role of the gut-brain axis in the development of neurodegenerative diseases

Link to lab presentation
Link to my NCBI
Link to LinkedIn
Twitter account: @GugliettaLab

Samar M. Hammad, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology
BSB 645
hammadsm@musc.edu

The Hammad laboratory studies the role of a special class of lipids, the sphingolipids, in accelerated vascular complications in metabolic and autoimmune disorders. Sphingolipids have emerged as key signaling molecules involved in the regulation of a variety of cellular functions including cell differentiation, proliferation and death. The focus of Hammad's laboratory has been on deciphering sphingolipid metabolic and signaling mechanisms that mediate the survival of lipid-laden macrophages (foam cells) and their sustained cell activation in response to modified lipoproteins. Clinically, the Hammad laboratory established a reference range for circulating sphingolipids in human plasma to be used for translational research and clinical practices detecting disease biomarkers in both men and women. Currently, the focus has been on several large collaborative studies in lupus, obesity, diabetes, and pre-eclampsia. The aim is to characterize profiles of sphingolipid species not only in plasma but also in isolated plasma lipoprotein fractions in an effort to determine the contribution of body organs, mainly the liver and intestine, to plasma pools of sphingolipids in health and disease.
Hammad Lab web site
MyNCBI Publications
ResearchGate Profile

Antonis Kourtidis, Ph.D.

kourtidi@musc.edu

Research in the Kourtidis lab focuses on fully understanding a mechanism that our work has discovered, whereby well-differentiated epithelial cell-cell junctions recruit the RNA interference (RNAi) machinery, numerous additional RNA-binding proteins, mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) and other long and small non-coding RNAs. We are particularly focusing our research in two major directions: a) deciphering the molecular underpinnings of formation and function of the cell-cell junction - RNA associated complex; and b) uncovering the roles of this mechanism in tissue homeostasis, cellular behavior, and human disease, particularly in cancer. Ultimately, we envision that this line of investigation will lead to the development of next generation, RNA-based therapeutics for cancer and other diseases.
Kourtidis Lab web site
MyNCBI Publications

Henry Sucov, Ph.D.

sucov@musc.edu
843-792-5992

The lab of Henry Sucov studies heart disease and heart regeneration. Dr. Sucov is a SmartState endowed professor in the Dept. of Regenerative Medicine and in the Div. of Cardiology. Among other approaches, the lab uses genetic strategies in mice to identify pathways and processes that impact cardiomyocyte proliferation and regeneration after adult heart injury (Patterson 2017 Nature Genetics, PMID 28783163; Gan 2019 PLOS Genetics, in press) and neonatal heart injury (Shen 2019, submitted), with surprisingly extensive application to human genetics and human heart pathophysiology. In addition to gene/pathway discovery and associated mechanisms, related projects address heart physiology, drug discovery, developmental biology, and bioengineering.
Sucov Lab web site