Department of Internal Medicine
Cardiovascular Medicine Faculty
Graduate School:
University of Guelph
Brandeis University
Postdoctoral Fellowship:
The University of Iowa
Mei-ling Joiner, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Cellular communication, particularly interaction among excitable cells, is an area of intense study. Molecules involved in the interaction between such excitable cells as neurons or cardiomyocytes are targets for drug development aimed at improving lives of people afflicted with neurological and cardiovascular diseases. Multifunctional CaMKII, an enzyme central to processes leading to cell excitability, regulates ion channel activity and metabolism. Mitochondria are vital to energy metabolism and utilize ion channels to interact with other cellular components. One approach to understand its effect on mitochondrial processes is to vary levels of CaMKII. My research interest in how excitable cells function is applied at many levels, using methods ranging from MALDI-TOF, to protein identification at the molecular level, to cellular models, to using transgenic animals at the whole organism level.
Recent Publications
- Caldwell J.C., M.A Joiner, E. Sivan-Loukianova and D.F. Eberl. 2008 The role of the RING-finger protein Elfless in Drosophila spermatogenesis and apoptosis. 2:6. Fly.
- Erickson J.R., M.A. Joiner, X. Guan, W. Kutschke, J. Yang, C.V. Oddis, R.K. Bartlett, J.S. Lowe, S.E. O'Donnell, N. Aykin-Burns, M.C. Zimmerman, K. Zimmerman, A.J. Ham, R.M. Weiss, D.R. Spitz, M.A. Shea, R.J. Colbran, P.J. Mohler and M.E. Anderson. A dynamic pathway for calcium-independent activation of CaMKII by methionine oxidation. 2008. Cell 133:462-74.
- Yang Y., W.Z. Zhu, M.A. Joiner, R. Zhang, C.V. Oddis, Y. Hou, J. Yang, M.E. Price, L. Gleaves, M. Eren, G. Ni, D.E. Vaughan, R.P. Xiao and M.E. Anderson. CaMKII activation by isoproterenol mediates apoptosis via a phospholamban-independent pathway in mouse heart. 2007. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 291:H3065-75.