Dr. Chris Glembotski
Professor of Biology
San Diego State University

Background:  After earning his Ph.D.in Biochemistry, with an emphasis in Pharmacology, at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1979, Dr. Glembotski did a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and in 1983 took a faculty position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.  In 1986 Dr. Glembotski was invited to join the faculty at San Diego State University, in the Department of Biology, where he is now a Professor and Director of the San Diego State University Heart Institute.

Teaching Interests:  At the University of Pennsylvania Dr. Glembotski taught in various courses in the Medical and Graduate Schools, including Medical Pharmacology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry.  Additionally, Dr. Glembotski designed and directed a course in Molecular Pharmacology which served as the model for the Molecular Pharmacology course (Biology 569) at SDSU.  Since coming to SDSU in 1986 Dr. Glembotski has taught Biology 356 (Cell Biology), Biology 567 (Molecular Endocrinology), Biology 569 (Molecular Pharmacology), Biology 590 (Human Physiology) and Biology 467 (Advanced Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology) and most recently, Biology 630 (Signal Transduction).

Research Interests:  As a graduate student, Dr. Glembotski was supported by an NIH pre-doctoral traineeship for 3 years (1976-79). This support continued through 4 years of NIH post-doctoral funding for Dr. Glembotski's research (1979-1983). Since 1983, Dr. Glembotski's laboratory has been continually supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.  The focus of Dr. Glembotski's research is signal transduction with a partiular emphasis on the intracellular pathways mediating the stress response in cardiac myocytes.  Presently, the lab focus is on how various MAP kinases, particularly the JNK and p38 pathways (see below), and cytokines, such as TNF and IL-6, regulate cardiac-specific gene expression and the related stress response. Presently, interests of the lab include the mechanisms by which sarcomeres become stabilized and cardioprotection is enhanced during the early phases of stress induction.

Sample Publications:  

Sprenkle, A.B., Murray, S.F. and Glembotski, C.C. (1995) Involvement of Multiple cis-elements in Basal- and Alpha-adrenergic Agonist-inducible Atrial Natriuretic Factor Transcription. Roles for Serum Response Elements and an Sp1-like Element. Circ. Res. 77:1060-1069.

Post, G.R., Goldstein, D.R., Thuerauf, D.J., Glembotski, C.C. and Brown, J.H. (1996) Dissociation of p44 and p42 MAP kinase Activation from Receptor-induced Hypertrophy in Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes. J. Biol. Chem., 271:8452-8457.

Krown, K.A., Page, M.R., Nguyen, C., Guttierrez, V., Comstock, K.L., Quintana, P.J.E., Glembotski, C.C., and Sabbadini, R.A. (1996) TNF-Induced Apoptosis in Cardiac Myocytes. J. Clin. Invest 98:2854-2865.

Wollert, K.C., Pennica, D., Wood, W., Paoni, N.F., Glembotski, C.C., Saito, M., Taga, T., Kishimoto, T., and Chien, K.R. (1996) Cardiotropin-1 Activates a Distinct Form of Cardiac Muscle Cell Hypertrophy. J. Biol. Chem. 271:9535-9545.

Glembotski, C.C. (1997) Cell and Molecular Biology of B-type Natriuretic Peptide, from Contemporary Endocrinology: Natriuretic Peptides in Health and Disease, ed. W.K. Samson and E.R. Levin, Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ., pp. 95-106. (REVIEW)

Thuerauf, D.J. and Glembotski, C.C. (1997) Differential Effects of PKC, Ras and Raf-1 Kinase on the Induction of Cardiac-B-type Natriuretic Peptide Gene through a Critical Promoter-proximal M-CAT Element. J. Biol. Chem., 272:7464-7472.

McDonough, P.M., Hanford, D.S., Sprenkle, A.B., Mellon, N. and Glembotski, C.C. (1997) Collaborative Roles for c-June N-terminal Kinase, c-Jun, Serum Response Factor, and Sp1 in Calcium-regulated Myocardial Gene Expression. J. Biol. Chem. 272:24046-24053.

Zechner, D., Thuerauf, D.J., Hanford, D.S., McDonough, P.M. and Glembotski, C.C. (1997) A Role for the p38 MAP kinase Pathway in Myocardial Cell Growth, Sarcomeric Organization and Cardiac-specific Gene Expression. J. Cell Biol. 139:115-127.

Ross, R. S., Pham, C., Shai, S-Y., Goldhaber, J.I., Fenczik, C., Glembotski, C.C., Ginsberg, M.H., and Loftus, J.C. (1998) b1 Integrins Participate in the Hypertrophic Response of Rat Ventricular Myocytes. Circ. Res. 82:1160-1172.

Zechner, D., Craig, R., Hanford, D.S., McDonough, P.M., Sabbadini, R.A. and Glembotski, C.C. (1998) MKK6 Inhibits Apoptosis in Neonatal Cardiac Myocytes via a p38 MAP Kinase-dependent Mechanism. J. Biol. Chem. 273:8232-8239.

Ho, P.D., Zechner, D.K., He, H., Dillmann, W.H., Glembotski, C.C., and McDonough, P.M. (1998) The Raf-MEK-ERK Cascade Represents a Common Pathway for Alteration of Intracellular Calcium by Ras and Protein Kinase C in Cardiac Myocytes. J. Biol. Chem. 273:21730-21735.

Ross, R. S., Pham, C., Shai, S-Y., Goldhaber, J.I., Fenczik, C., Glembotski, C.C., Ginsberg, M.H., and Loftus, J.C. (1998) b1 Integrins Participate in the Hypertrophic Response of Rat Ventricular Myocytes. Circ. Res. 82:1160-1172.

Thuerauf, D.J., Arnold, N.D., Zechner, D., Hanford, D.S., DeMartin, K. M., McDonough, P.M., Prywes, R., and Glembotski, C.C. (1998) p38 MAPK Mediates the Transcriptional Induction of the Atrial Natriuretic Factor Gene through a Serum Response Element. J. Biol. Chem. 273:20636-20643.

Comstock, K.L., Krown, K.A., Page, M.T., Martin, D., Ho, P., Pedraza, M., Castro, E.N., Nakajima, N., Glembotski, C.C., Quintana, P.J.E. and Sabbadini, R.A. (1998) LPS-induced TNF-a Release from and Apoptosis in Rat Cardiomyocytes. J. Mol. Cardiol. 30: 2761-2775.

Morissette, M.R., Sah, V.P., Glembotski, C.C. and Heller Brown, J. (2000) The Rho Effector, PKN, Regulates ANF Gene Transcription in Cardiomyocytes through a Serum Response Element. Am. J. Physiol. 278: in press.

Craig, R.C., Larkin, A., Mingo, A., Thuerauf, D.J., Andrews, C.A., McDonough, P.M. and Glembotski, C.C. (2000) p38 and NF-kB Collaborate to Induce IL-6 Gene Expression and Release: Evidence for a Cytoprotective Autocrine Signaling Pathway in a Cardiac Myocyte Model System. J. Biol. Chem., submitted.

Ho, P., Glembotski, C.C., and McDonough, P.M. (2000) Morphological and Physiological Effects of Ras in Mediating Changing in Ca-signaling and E-C Coupling in Cardiac Myocytes. J. Cell Biol. , submitted.

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