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Nika N. Danial

Bio: Nika N. Danial is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mitochondrion & Signal transduction. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 67 publications receiving 11479 citations. Previous affiliations of Nika N. Danial include Dana Corporation & Columbia University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
23 Jan 2004-Cell
TL;DR: The identification of critical control points in the cell death pathway has yielded fundamental insights for basic biology, as well as provided rational targets for new therapeutics.

4,741 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
14 Jul 2006-Cell
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that Optic Atrophy 1 (OPA1), a profusion dynamin-related protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane mutated in dominant optic atrophy, protects from apoptosis by preventing cytochrome c release independently from mitochondrial fusion.

1,444 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: CypD-deficient mice displayed a dramatic reduction in brain infarct size after acute middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion, strongly supporting an essential role for CypD in an ischemic injury model in which calcium overload and oxidative stress have been implicated.
Abstract: Mitochondrial permeability transition (PT) is a phenomenon induced by high levels of matrix calcium and is characterized by the opening of the PT pore (PTP). Activation of the PTP results in loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, expansion of the matrix, and rupture of the mitochondrial outer membrane. Consequently, PT has been implicated in both apoptotic and necrotic cell death. Cyclophilin D (CypD) appears to be a critical component of the PTP. To investigate the role of CypD in cell death, we created a CypD-deficient mouse. In vitro, CypD-deficient mitochondria showed an increased capacity to retain calcium and were no longer susceptible to PT induced by the addition of calcium. CypD-deficient primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were as susceptible to classical apoptotic stimuli as the WT, suggesting that CypD is not a central component of cell death in response to these specific death stimuli. However, CypD-deficient MEFs were significantly less susceptible than their WT counterparts to cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide, implicating CypD in oxidative stress-induced cell death. Importantly, CypD-deficient mice displayed a dramatic reduction in brain infarct size after acute middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion, strongly supporting an essential role for CypD in an ischemic injury model in which calcium overload and oxidative stress have been implicated.

798 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
21 Aug 2003-Nature
TL;DR: A combination of proteomics, genetics and physiology indicates an unanticipated role for BAD in integrating pathways of glucose metabolism and apoptosis.
Abstract: Glycolysis and apoptosis are considered major but independent pathways that are critical for cell survival1,2,3,4. The activity of BAD, a pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family member, is regulated by phosphorylation in response to growth/survival factors5,6,7,8. Here we undertook a proteomic analysis to assess whether BAD might also participate in mitochondrial physiology. In liver mitochondria, BAD resides in a functional holoenzyme complex together with protein kinase A7 and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) catalytic units9, Wiskott–Aldrich family member WAVE-1 as an A kinase anchoring protein10, and glucokinase (hexokinase IV)11. BAD is required to assemble the complex in that Bad-deficient hepatocytes lack this complex, resulting in diminished mitochondria-based glucokinase activity and blunted mitochondrial respiration in response to glucose. Glucose deprivation results in dephosphorylation of BAD, and BAD-dependent cell death. Moreover, the phosphorylation status of BAD helps regulate glucokinase activity. Mice deficient for BAD or bearing a non-phosphorylatable BAD(3SA) mutant12 display abnormal glucose homeostasis including profound defects in glucose tolerance. This combination of proteomics, genetics and physiology indicates an unanticipated role for BAD in integrating pathways of glucose metabolism and apoptosis.

708 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: OxPhos-DLBCL subset, which harbors the signature of genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism, is insensitive to inhibition of BCR survival signaling but is functionally undefined.

403 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Attention is focussed on the ROS/RNS-linked pathogenesis of cancer, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, ischemia/reperfusion injury, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and ageing.

12,240 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work states that rapid advances in network biology indicate that cellular networks are governed by universal laws and offer a new conceptual framework that could potentially revolutionize the view of biology and disease pathologies in the twenty-first century.
Abstract: A key aim of postgenomic biomedical research is to systematically catalogue all molecules and their interactions within a living cell. There is a clear need to understand how these molecules and the interactions between them determine the function of this enormously complex machinery, both in isolation and when surrounded by other cells. Rapid advances in network biology indicate that cellular networks are governed by universal laws and offer a new conceptual framework that could potentially revolutionize our view of biology and disease pathologies in the twenty-first century.

7,475 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
19 Oct 2006-Nature
TL;DR: Treatments targeting basic mitochondrial processes, such as energy metabolism or free-radical generation, or specific interactions of disease-related proteins with mitochondria hold great promise in ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Abstract: Many lines of evidence suggest that mitochondria have a central role in ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondria are critical regulators of cell death, a key feature of neurodegeneration. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA and oxidative stress both contribute to ageing, which is the greatest risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. In all major examples of these diseases there is strong evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction occurs early and acts causally in disease pathogenesis. Moreover, an impressive number of disease-specific proteins interact with mitochondria. Thus, therapies targeting basic mitochondrial processes, such as energy metabolism or free-radical generation, or specific interactions of disease-related proteins with mitochondria, hold great promise.

5,368 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Jan 2004-Cell
TL;DR: The identification of critical control points in the cell death pathway has yielded fundamental insights for basic biology, as well as provided rational targets for new therapeutics.

4,741 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: New insights into interactions among BCL-2 family proteins reveal how these proteins are regulated, but a unifying hypothesis for the mechanisms they use to activate caspases remains elusive.
Abstract: BCL-2 family proteins, which have either pro- or anti-apoptotic activities, have been studied intensively for the past decade owing to their importance in the regulation of apoptosis, tumorigenesis and cellular responses to anti-cancer therapy. They control the point of no return for clonogenic cell survival and thereby affect tumorigenesis and host-pathogen interactions and regulate animal development. Recent structural, phylogenetic and biological analyses, however, suggest the need for some reconsideration of the accepted organizational principles of the family and how the family members interact with one another during programmed cell death. Although these insights into interactions among BCL-2 family proteins reveal how these proteins are regulated, a unifying hypothesis for the mechanisms they use to activate caspases remains elusive.

4,246 citations