
Jacek Zielonka, PhD, DSc
Assistant Professor; Director, Redox & Bioenergetics Shared Resource
Locations
- Biophysics
TBRC C0780
Contact Information
Education
PhD with honours, Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 2002
MSc with honours, Chemistry and Chemistry Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 1998
Biography
After completing my PhD training in 2002, I worked for 1.5 years as a lecturer at the Lodz University of Technology in Poland. In 2004, I joined the Department of Biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow, working on the chemistry of probes for cellular oxidizing species. In 2007, I became a research scientist; in 2015, I became research director of the MCW Free Radical Research Center; and in 2020, I was appointed to director of the MCW Cancer Center Redox & Bioenergetics Shared Resource. I am an assistant professor in the Department of Biophysics.
I have expertise in the redox chemistry of biologically relevant compounds and bioanalytical techniques used in the area of oxidative stress research. I have a strong background in free radical chemistry and chemical and biochemical kinetics. I am experienced in a variety of analytical techniques including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with absorption, fluorescence, mass spectrometric, and electrochemical detection. I have co-authored 70 publications on various aspects of free radical chemistry and biochemistry, on the methodology of the detection of free radicals in biological systems, as well as on cellular bioenergetics as a target for development of new therapeutics. I have served as an editorial board member of Free Radical Biology and Medicine since since 2012.
Research Experience
- Antioxidants
- Boronic Acids
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cell Proliferation
- Cyclic N-Oxides
- Cytochromes c
- Energy Metabolism
- Enzyme Inhibitors
- Ethidium
- Fluorescent Dyes
- Free Radical Scavengers
- Free Radicals
Methodologies and Techniques
- Blotting, Western
- Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
- Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy
- Fluorescence
- Fluorometry
- High-Throughput Screening Assays
- Luminescence
- Luminescent Measurements
- Mass Spectrometry
- Pulse Radiolysis
- Spectrophotometry
- Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
Research Interests
My current research interests focus on the development of new, rapid methods of detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. My research involves probe design and synthesis; characterization of chemical reactivity of probes, including determination of the reaction products, stoichiometry, and kinetics; and application of various noninvasive and invasive detection modes for complete and rigorous characterization of cellular oxidants in vitro and in vivo.

The goal of developing new probes is to understand the chemical biology of cellular oxidants under physiological and pathophysiological conditions and to establish high-throughput screening protocols for the development of new inhibitors of NADPH oxidases and other enzymes producing reactive oxygen and nitrogen species for cardioprotection, neuroprotection, and cancer treatment.
Another of my research interests is exploiting the differences in bioenergetics profiles and redox status between normal and cancer cells for development of strategies to selectively target cancer cells. My research focuses on the design and development of compounds engineered to selectively accumulate in cancer cell mitochondria and induce bioenergetic and redox stress to stop cancer cell proliferation.

Lab Members
Matea Juric, Research Technologist I
Collaborators
Dr. Micael Hardy, Aix-Marseille Universite, Marseille, France
Dr. Adam Sikora, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Podsiadły, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Michalski, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Publications
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Fluorescent probes for monitoring myeloperoxidase-derived hypochlorous acid: a comparative study.
(Pierzchała K, Pięta M, Rola M, Świerczyńska M, Artelska A, Dębowska K, Podsiadły R, Pięta J, Zielonka J, Sikora A, Marcinek A, Michalski R.) Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 03;12(1):9314 PMID: 35660769 06/07/2022
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(Grzelakowska A, Modrzejewska J, Kolińska J, Szala M, Zielonka M, Dębowska K, Zakłos-Szyda M, Sikora A, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2022 02 01;179:34-46 PMID: 34923103 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85121730594 12/20/2021
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(Modrzejewska J, Szala M, Grzelakowska A, Zakłos-Szyda M, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Molecules. 2021 Sep 30;26(19) PMID: 34641484 PMCID: PMC8512868 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85116571011 10/14/2021
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(AbuEid M, McAllister DM, McOlash L, Harwig MC, Cheng G, Drouillard D, Boyle KA, Hardy M, Zielonka J, Johnson BD, Hill RB, Kalyanaraman B, Dwinell MB.) iScience. 2021 Jun 25;24(6):102653 PMID: 34189432 PMCID: PMC8220235 07/01/2021
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(Grzelakowska A, Zielonka M, Dębowska K, Modrzejewska J, Szala M, Sikora A, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2021 06;169:24-35 PMID: 33862158 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85104378450 04/17/2021
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(Kalinovic S, Stamm P, Oelze M, Steven S, Kröller-Schön S, Kvandova M, Zielonka J, Münzel T, Daiber A.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2021 05 20;168:214-225 PMID: 33823245 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85103958152 04/07/2021
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(Siarkiewicz P, Michalski R, Sikora A, Smulik-Izydorczyk R, Szala M, Grzelakowska A, Modrzejewska J, Bailey A, Nycz JE, Kalyanaraman B, Malecki JG, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Dyes and Pigments. August 2021;192 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85105322458 08/01/2021
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(Zielonka J, Sikora A, Podsiadly R, Hardy M, Kalyanaraman B.) Methods Mol Biol. 2021;2275:315-327 PMID: 34118047 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85108205869 06/13/2021
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Radiation Increases Bioavailability of Lisinopril, a Mitigator of Radiation-Induced Toxicities.
(Medhora M, Phadnis P, Narayanan J, Gasperetti T, Zielonka J, Moulder JE, Fish BL, Szabo A.) Front Pharmacol. 2021;12:646076 PMID: 33986677 PMCID: PMC8111401 05/15/2021
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(Michalski R, Thiebaut D, Michałowski B, Ayhan MM, Hardy M, Ouari O, Rostkowski M, Smulik-Izydorczyk R, Artelska A, Marcinek A, Zielonka J, Kalyanaraman B, Sikora A.) Sci Rep. 2020 10 29;10(1):18626 PMID: 33122809 PMCID: PMC7596101 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85094638056 10/31/2020
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(Szala M, Grzelakowska A, Modrzejewska J, Siarkiewicz P, Słowiński D, Świerczyńska M, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Dyes and Pigments. December 2020;183 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85089199002 12/01/2020
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Boronate-Based Probes for Biological Oxidants: A Novel Class of Molecular Tools for Redox Biology.
(Sikora A, Zielonka J, Dębowska K, Michalski R, Smulik-Izydorczyk R, Pięta J, Podsiadły R, Artelska A, Pierzchała K, Kalyanaraman B.) Front Chem. 2020;8:580899 PMID: 33102447 PMCID: PMC7545953 10/27/2020