Jekabsons, Mika

Research Interests:

• Mitochondrial bioenergetics
• Mitochondrial function within cells
• The role of mitochondria in apoptotic and necrotic cell death

Live neurons stained with the calcium indicator FURA PE3 (green) and the mitochondrial indicator TMRM (red)

Classes Currently Teaching:
Bisc 330: Physiology

 

Education:

Ph.D. (Physiology) University of California Davis (1999). Research topic: uncoupling proteins and obesity
B.S. (Applied Physiology) Humboldt State University, Arcata, California (1989)

Postdoctoral fellow Jan 2000-May 2002: Medical Research Council, Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, England. Research topic: uncoupling proteins

Postdoctoral fellow Jun 2002-July 2005: Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, California. Research topic: neuronal cell death and mitochondrial bioenergetics

 

Recent publications (Where available, click link)

Mao, S.C., Y. Liu, J.B. Morgan, M.B. Jekabsons, Y.D. Zhou, and D. Nagle. Lipophilic 2,5-Disubstituted Pyrroles from the Marine Sponge Mycale sp. Inhibit Mitochondrial Respiration and HIF-1 Activation. J. Nat. Prod, 2009

Jekabsons, M.B. A systems biology approach to investigating apoptotic stimuli as effectors of cell metabolism: practical application of top-down control analysis to attached neurons. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 10(2): 702-722, 2009.

Liu, Y., C.K. Veena, J.B. Morgan, K.A. Mohammed, M.B. Jekabsons, D.G. Nagle, and Y.D. Zhou. Methylalpinumisoflavone inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) activation by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways. J. Biol. Chem. 284(9): 5859-5868, 2009.

Liu, Y., R. Liu, S.C. Mao, J.B. Morgan, M.B. Jekabsons, Y.D. Zhou, and D.G. Nagle. Molecular-targeted antitumor agents 19: furospongolide from a marine Lendenfeldia sp. Sponge inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) activation in breast tumor cells. J. Nat. Prod. 71(11), pp. 1854-1860, 2008.

Nicholls, D.G., L.I. Johnson-Cadwell, S. Vesce, M.B. Jekabsons, and N. Yadava. Bioenergetics of mitochondria in cultured neurons and their role in glutamate excitotoxicity. J. Neurosci. Res. 85(15): 3206-3212, 2007.

Johnson-Cadwell, L.I., M.B. Jekabsons, A. Wang, B.M. Polster, and D.G. Nicholls. ‘Mild Uncoupling’ does not decrease mitochondrial superoxide levels in cultured cerebellar granule neurons but decreases spare respiratory capacity and increases toxicity to glutamate and oxidative stress. J. Neurochem. 101(6): 1619-1631, 2007

Oliveira, J., M.B. Jekabsons, S. Chen, A. Lin, C. Rego, J. Gonçalves, L.M. Ellerby, and D.G. Nicholls. Mitochondrial dysfunction in Huntington’s disease: the bioenergetics of isolated and in-situ mitochondria from transgenic mice. J. Neurochem., 101(1): 241-249, 2007.

Jekabsons, M.B. and D.G. Nicholls. Bioenergetic analysis of cerebellar granule neurons undergoing apoptosis by potassium/serum deprivation. Cell Death Differ., 13(9): 1595-1610, 2006