KATYA RAVID, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine,
Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine;
Scientific Director, BUSM Transgenic Core
Boston University School of Medicine, Silvio Conte Building, K724
Phone: (617) 638-5053, Fax: (617) 638-5339
Electronic Mail: Katya Ravid
Education
B.Sc.,D.Sc./Ph.D., Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Interests:
The cells of all blood lineages arise from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells that reside in the marrow. The bone marrow also contains stem cells of other lineages, including fat, vascular etc. Our research is focused on two interrelated projects that bear on mechanisms associated with the development of blood and vascular pathologies: (1) Studies in the lab center on molecular mechanisms involved in cell cycle control during the development of bone marrow megakaryocytes into platelets, a process that includes cellular polyploidization prior to platelet fragmentation. We also identified mechanisms of polyploidy in vascular smooth muscle cells, and found that the degree of polyploidy serves as an excellent biomarker for aging; (2) Ongoing studies explore the role of vascular and bone marrow cell (progenitors and mature) adenosine receptors in vascular regeneration during injury or atherosclerosis. Transgenic and knockout mouse models are used to assist in exploring mechanisms in vivo.
Selected Publications:
St Hilaire C, Yang D, Schreiber BM, Ravid K. B-Myb regulates the A(2B) adenosine receptor in vascular smooth muscle cells. J Cell Biochem. 2007 Nov 2; [Epub ahead of print]
Yang D, McCrann DJ, Nguyen H, St Hilaire C, DePinho RA, Jones MR, Ravid K. Increased polyploidy in aortic vascular smooth muscle cells during aging is marked by cellular senescence. Aging Cell. 2007 Apr;6(2):257-60. Epub 2007 Feb 7.
Yang D, Zhang Y, Nguyen HG, Koupenova M, Chauhan AK, Makitalo M, Jones MR, St Hilaire C, Seldin DC, Toselli P, Lamperti E, Schreiber BM, Gavras H, Wagner DD, Ravid K. The A2B adenosine receptor protects against inflammation and excessive vascular adhesion. J Clin Invest. 2006 Jul;116(7):1913-23.
Hazony Y, Lu J, St Hilaire C, Ravid K. Hematopoietic gene promoters subjected to a group-combinatorial study of DNA samples: identification of a megakaryocytic selective DNA signature. Nucleic Acids Res. 2006;34(16):4416-28. Epub 2006 Aug 26.
Nguyen HG, Chinnappan D, Urano T, Ravid K. Mechanism of Aurora-B degradation and its dependency on intact KEN and A-boxes: identification of an aneuploidy-promoting property. Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Jun;25(12):4977-92.
Nguyen HG, Yu G, Makitalo M, Yang D, Xie HX, Jones MR, Ravid K. Conditional overexpression of transgenes in megakaryocytes and platelets in vivo. Blood. 2005 Sep 1;106(5):1559-64. Epub 2005 May 12.
Nagata Y, Jones MR, Nguyen HG, McCrann DJ, St Hilaire C, Schreiber BM, Hashimoto A, Inagaki M, Earnshaw WC, Todokoro K, Ravid K. Vascular smooth muscle cell polyploidization involves changes in chromosome passenger proteins and an endomitotic cell cycle. Exp Cell Res. 2005 May 1;305(2):277-91.
