Geurts Lab

AronGeurts

Aron Geurts, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Physiology
ageurts@mcw.edu

Dr. Geurts is a professor in the department of physiology, Cardiovascular Research Center and Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine. He leads an NIH-funded research team focused on innovating novel approaches to genetic engineering and creating animal and cell models of complex genetic human diseases. He is a recipient of a prestigious New Innovator award from the Office of the Director of the NIH.

Michael Grzybowski

Michael Grzybowski
Laboratory Supervisor
mgrzybowski@mcw.edu

My role in Dr. Aron Geurts' lab is to help facilitate the creation of genetically modified models. I design nuclease reagents that are then created and validated in the Geurts lab that will be used to create these modifications. I am also responsible for the day to day operations in the lab. My research interests are mainly molecular biology and technology and how to create and develop animal models.

Akiko Takizawa

Akiko Takizawa
Research Scientist II
atakizawa@mcw.edu

My research interests are related to reproductive biology in rats. I am especially interested in assisted reproductive technology such as cryopreservation of gametes and zygotes, re-derivation and embryo manipulation. These technologies are reliable methods to preserve strains which were generated using new gene modification technologies such as Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and TAL Effector Nucleases (TALENs), to avoid breeding problems. I am also interested in the development of more effective sperm cryopreservation and nuclear transfer technology.

Jason Klotz

Jason Klotz
Research Technologist III
jklotz@mcw.edu

Under Dr. Geurts I help coordinate the business conducted in the Rat Transgenic Service Center. I also perform micro-injections and sperm cryopreservation for the Service Center.

Protease-Activated Receptor 1-Mediated Damage of Podocytes in Diabetic Nephropathy.

(Bohovyk R, Khedr S, Levchenko V, Stefanenko M, Semenikhina M, Kravtsova O, Isaeva E, Geurts AM, Klemens CA, Palygin O, Staruschenko A.) Diabetes. 2023 Dec 01;72(12):1795-1808 PMID: 37722138 PMCID: PMC10658073 09/18/2023
Changes in environmental stress over COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to failure to replicate adiposity phenotype associated with Krtcap3.

(Szalanczy AM, Giorgio G, Goff E, Seshie O, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Geurts AM, Redei EE, Solberg Woods LC.) Physiol Genomics. 2023 Oct 01;55(10):452-467 PMID: 37458463 PMCID: PMC10642928 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85170295262 07/17/2023
Aberrations in Energetic Metabolism and Stress-Related Pathways Contribute to Pathophysiology in the Neb Conditional Knockout Mouse Model of Nemaline Myopathy.

(Slick RA, Tinklenberg JA, Sutton J, Zhang L, Meng H, Beatka MJ, Vanden Avond M, Prom MJ, Ott E, Montanaro F, Heisner J, Toro R, Granzier H, Geurts AM, Stowe DF, Hill RB, Lawlor MW.) Am J Pathol. 2023 Oct;193(10):1528-1547 PMID: 37422147 PMCID: PMC10548278 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85171390420 07/09/2023
Different Mouse Models of Nemaline Myopathy Harboring Acta1 Mutations Display Differing Abnormalities Related to Mitochondrial Biology.

(Tinklenberg JA, Slick RA, Sutton J, Zhang L, Meng H, Beatka MJ, Vanden Avond M, Prom MJ, Ott E, Montanaro F, Heisner J, Toro R, Hardeman EC, Geurts AM, Stowe DF, Hill RB, Lawlor MW.) Am J Pathol. 2023 Oct;193(10):1548-1567 PMID: 37419385 PMCID: PMC10548277 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85171370030 07/08/2023
A revamped rat reference genome improves the discovery of genetic diversity in laboratory rats.

(de Jong TV, Pan Y, Rastas P, Munro D, Tutaj M, Akil H, Benner C, Chen D, Chitre AS, Chow W, Colonna V, Dalgard CL, Demos WM, Doris PA, Garrison E, Geurts AM, Gunturkun HM, Guryev V, Hourlier T, Howe K, Huang J, Kalbfleisch T, Kim P, Li L, Mahaffey S, Martin FJ, Mohammadi P, Ozel AB, Polesskaya O, Pravenec M, Prins P, Sebat J, Smith JR, Solberg Woods LC, Tabakoff B, Tracey A, Uliano-Silva M, Villani F, Wang H, Sharp BM, Telese F, Jiang Z, Saba L, Wang X, Murphy TD, Palmer AA, Kwitek AE, Dwinell MR, Williams RW, Li JZ, Chen H.) bioRxiv. 2023 Sep 28 PMID: 37214860 PMCID: PMC10197727 05/22/2023
Knockout of Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Opposes Hypertension- and Diabetes-Induced Nephropathy.

(Hirata T, Fan F, Fan L, Amin G, White T, Geurts AM, Kojima N, Takahashi T, Miyata N, Williams J, Roman RJ.) J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2023 Aug 25 PMID: 37643020 08/29/2023
Gamma secretase activating protein promotes end-organ dysfunction after bacterial pneumonia.

(Gwin MS, Alexeyev MF, Geurts AM, Lee JY, Zhou C, Yang XM, Cohen MV, Downey JM, Barrington RA, Spadafora D, Audia JP, Frank DW, Voth S, Pastukh VV, Bell J, Ayers L, Tambe DT, Nelson AR, Balczon R, Lin MT, Stevens T.) Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2023 Aug 01;325(2):L174-L189 PMID: 37366533 PMCID: PMC10396227 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85166442544 06/27/2023
Kir7.1 knockdown and inhibition alter renal electrolyte handling but not the development of hypertension in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

(Zietara A, Palygin O, Levchenko V, Dissanayake LV, Klemens CA, Geurts A, Denton JS, Staruschenko A.) Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2023 Aug 01;325(2):F177-F187 PMID: 37318990 PMCID: PMC10393338 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85164294757 06/15/2023
Robustness of single-cell RNA-seq for identifying differentially expressed genes.

(Liu Y, Huang J, Pandey R, Liu P, Therani B, Qiu Q, Rao S, Geurts AM, Cowley AW Jr, Greene AS, Liang M.) BMC Genomics. 2023 Jul 03;24(1):371 PMID: 37394518 PMCID: PMC10316566 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85163598768 07/03/2023
Dynamic NIR Fluorescence Imaging and Machine Learning Framework for Stratifying High vs. Low Notch-Dll4 Expressing Host Microenvironment in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

(Shafiee S, Jagtap J, Zayats M, Epperlein J, Banerjee A, Geurts A, Flister M, Zhuk S, Joshi A.) Cancers (Basel). 2023 Feb 25;15(5) PMID: 36900252 PMCID: PMC10000786 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85149856201 03/12/2023
Correction: Lenarczyk et al. T Cells Contribute to Pathological Responses in the Non-Targeted Rat Heart following Irradiation of the Kidneys. Toxics 2022, 10, 797.

(Lenarczyk M, Alsheikh AJ, Cohen EP, Schaue D, Kronenberg A, Geurts A, Klawikowski S, Mattson D, Baker JE.) Toxics. 2023 Feb 16;11(2) PMID: 36851074 PMCID: PMC9959763 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85149176377 03/01/2023
A Four Core Genotypes rat model to distinguish mechanisms underlying sex-biased phenotypes and diseases.

(Arnold AP, Chen X, Grzybowski MN, Ryan JM, Sengelaub DR, Mohanroy T, Furlan VA, Grisham W, Malloy L, Takizawa A, Wiese CB, Vergnes L, Skaletsky H, Page DC, Reue K, Harley VR, Dwinell MR, Geurts AM.) bioRxiv. 2023 Feb 10 PMID: 36798326 PMCID: PMC9934672 02/18/2023

Geurts Lab

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