SOM Faculty Profile : Horea G Rus

Horea G Rus

Horea G Rus M.D., Ph.D.

Academic Title: Associate Professor

Primary Appointment: Neurology

hrus@umaryland.edu

Location: 11 S. Paca Street 3rd Floor

Phone: (410) 328-5605 (office)

Phone: (410) 706-3170 (lab)

Fax: (410) 328-5425

Research Interests

Dr. Rus specializes in the diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis. He sees patients one day a week and also runs a research laboratory. In addtion, Dr. Rus participates and directs clinical trials in investigating new drug therapies for Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Rus’s specific laboratory research lies in understanding the mechanisms of oligodendrocyte cell death through a process called apoptosis. Oligodendorcytes are special cells in the brain that make myelin. Myelin is wrapped around nerve fibers and helps increase the speed of nerve transmission. It is felt that injury or death of oligodendrocytes contributes to the MS disease process. In MS there are periods of time when the disease is most active. The hallmark of active MS is inflammation. During the active, inflammatory phase of multiple sclerosis, oligodendrocytes undergo apoptosis (or cell death). Therefore there are less oligodendrocytes, lessening ability to make myelin. This can contribute to the demyelinating process and the accumulation of disability.

In Dr. Rus’s lab, he and his colleagues have shown that proteins once thought to only contribute to the destructive process in MS also may contribute to the prevention of oligodendrocyte death. Dr. Rus and his colleagues recently discovered and produced a new protein involved in activation of cell cycle in oligodendrocytes. They are now searching for ways to introduce these new findings into potential treatments for MS. For more information on Dr. Rus’s lab please go to http://home.earthlink.net/~hrus/.

Dr. Rus research is funded by the National Institute of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has published over 90 papers and book chapters.

Publications

Weerth S., Rus, H., Shin, M.L, and Raine, C.S. Complement C5 in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis facilitates remyelination and prevents gliosis. Am. J. Pathol. 163, 1069-1080, 2003.

Niculescu T., Weerth, S., Soane, L., Niculescu F., Rus, V., Raine, CS., Shin, M.L. and Rus, H. Effects of membrane attack complex of complement on apoptosis in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Ann. N.Y. Acad Sci, 2003, 1010, , 530-533.

Niculescu, F., Niculescu T. and Rus, H. C5b-9 complement complex assembly on apoptotic cells in human arterial wall with atherosclerosis. Exp. Mol. Pathol. 2004, 76, 17-23.

Niculescu T., Weerth, S., Niculescu F., Cudrici, C., Rus, V., Raine, CS., Shin, M.L. and Rus, H. Effect of complement C5 on apoptosis in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J. Immunol. 2004, 172, 5702-5706.

Fosbrink, M, Cudrici, C, Niculescu, F, Badea, C, David, S, Samsuddin, A, Shin, ML, Rus, H. Overexpression of RGC-32 in colon cancer and other tumors. Exp. Mol. Pathol. 2005, 78, 116-122.

Rus, H., Cudrici, C., Niculescu., F., C5b-9 complement complex in autoimmune demyelination and multiple sclerosis: Dual role in neuroinflammation and neuroprotection. Ann. Med. 2005, 37, 97-104.

Rus H, Pardo CA, Hu L, Darrah E, Cudrici C, Niculescu T, Niculescu F, Mullen KM, Allie R, Guo L, Wulff H, Beeton C, Judge SI, Kerr DA, Knaus HG, Chandy KG, Calabresi PA. The voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 is highly expressed on inflammatory infiltrates in multiple sclerosis brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005;102:11094-9.

Cudrici, C, Rus, H. The role of complement system in innate immunity. Immunol. Res. 2005, 33, 103-112.

Cornelia Cudrici, Florin Niculescu, Timothy Jansen, Ekaterina Zafranskaia, Matthew Fosbrink, Violeta Rus, Moon L. Shin, and Horea Rus. C5b-9 Terminal Complex Protects Oligodendrocytes from Apoptotic Cell Death by Inhibiting Caspase-8 Processing and Up-Regulating FLIP. J. Immunol. 2006; 176: 3173 – 3180.

Fosbrink M, Niculescu F, Rus V, Shin ML, Rus H. C5b-9 induced endothelial cell proliferation and migration is dependent on Akt inactivation of forkhead transcription factor FOXO1. J Biol Chem. 2006 May 2; [Epub ahead of print]

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