Cellular Globins
Our Research
The long-term goal of Dr. Corti’s research is to elucidate the function of cellular globins in vivo and their biological significance. Globins proteins are highly conserved and expressed in diverse organisms. Homologues to hemoglobin and myoglobin, all globins can bind oxygen but also other gaseous ligands pointing at a physiological function yet to be determined. Dr. Corti’s research indicates that these proteins can have different functions independent of oxygen binding, including the regulation of nitric oxide levels and adaptive responses to tissue injury. These functions can have important implications for embryonic development. Using transgenic zebrafish and mouse models, Dr. Corti’s laboratory aims to understand the function of globins in development. Our recent findings that cytoglobin is a ciliary related protein that regulates nitric oxide levels in the development of organ laterality shed light on a previously unknown mechanism of cilia function that can significantly improve our understanding of cilia related diseases such as Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, Kartagener’s syndrome, and infertility.
Team Members
Paola Corti, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Qinzi Xu, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Adam Clark, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow
Muddassar Iqbal, PhD, MS
Post Doctoral Fellow
Akueba Bruce
Research Technician Assistant
John (Hyon) Hwang, MS
Laboratory Manager
Publications:
Rochon ER, Xue J, Mohammed MS, Smith C, Hay-Schmidt A, DeMartino AW, Clark A, Xu Q, Lo CW, Tsang M, Tejero J, Gladwin MT, Corti P. Cytoglobin regulates NO-dependent cilia motility and organ laterality during development. Nat Commun. (2023) 14;14(1):8333. PMID: 38097556
Giordano D, Corti P, Coppola D, Altomonte G, Xue J, Russo R, di Prisco G, Verde C. Regulation of globin expression in Antarctic fish under thermal and hypoxic stress. Mar Genomics. (2021) 57:100831. PMID: 33250437.
Rochon E., Missinato MA., Xue J., Tejero J., Tsang M., Gladwin M. and Corti P. Nitrite improves heart regeneration in zebrafish. Antioxid Redox Signal (2020) 32(6):363-377. PMCID: PMC6985782. Article featured on journal cover.
Amdahl MB, Sparacino-Watkins CE, Corti P, Gladwin MT, Tejero J. Efficient Reduction of Vertebrate Cytoglobins by the Cytochrome b(5)/Cytochrome b(5)Reductase/NADH System. Biochemistry. (2017) 56(30):3993-4004. PMID: 28671819.
Corti P, Xue J, Tejero J, Wajih N, Sun M, Stolz DB, Tsang M, Kim-Shapiro DB, Gladwin MT. Globin X is a six-coordinate globin that reduces nitrite to nitric oxide in fish red blood cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci (2016) 113(30):8538-43. PMID: 27407144.
Corti P, Ieraci M, Tejero J. Characterization of zebrafish neuroglobin and cytoglobins 1 and 2: Zebrafish cytoglobins provide insights into the transition from six-coordinate to five-coordinate globins. Nitric Oxide. (2016) 53:22-34. PMID: 26721561.
Corti P, Young S, Chen CY, Patrick MJ, Rochon ER, Pekkan K, Roman BL. Interaction between alk1 and blood flow in development of arteriovenous malformations. (2011) 138(8):1573-82. PMID: 21389051