Department of Medicine
Faculty Profiles by Division

Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism

Faculty Profiles
[Return To Index page]
photo Michael J Jurczak, PhD

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Associate Professor of Medicine

Director, Center for Metabolism and Mitochondrial Medicine

Director, Oroboros Respirometry Core, Endocrine Division

Email: jurczakm@pitt.edu

Phone: 412-648-7006
Contact
Office: 200 Lothrop Street
W1060 BST
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 
Phone: 412-648-7006
Fax: 412-648-3290
E-mail: jurczakm@pitt.edu
Administrative Assistant:
Jana Parks
Address: W1026 Biomedical Science Tower
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Email: jana.parks@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-648-9770
Fax: 412-648-3290
Education and Training
Education
BS, University of California Los Angeles, 2002
PhD, University of Chicago, 2008
Training
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, 2011
Research Interest
Dr. Jurczak’s lab is primarily interested in the relationship between nutrient excess, mitochondrial overload and the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, such as fatty liver, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Mitochondrial dysfunction and ectopic lipid accumulation in liver are both associated with insulin resistance in human subjects, but the cause and effect nature of these associations remain unclear. Dr. Jurczak’s lab is specifically interested in a mitochondrial repair mechanism called mitophagy that regulates the selective removal of damaged mitochondria via the autophagosomal pathway. Because autophagy is suppressed in mouse models of obesity and fatty liver disease, it is likely that mitophagy is similarly impaired and may contribute to the decline in mitochondrial function seen in human patients. Interestingly, a key component of the mitophagy pathway, a ubiquitin E3 ligase called Parkin, is upregulated in liver of obese mice. This change may represent a compensatory response to remove damaged mitochondria from hepatocytes or result directly from the loss of autophagy. Dr. Jurczak’s group is using a genetic approach to test whether the loss of Parkin-mediated mitophagy in liver predisposes mice to mitochondrial dysfunction, ectopic lipid accumulation and insulin resistance. The lab employs in vivo and ex vivo approaches in transgenic mouse models and specializes in using radioactive and stable metabolic isotopes to measure substrate turnover and flux.
Educational Interest
Dr. Jurczak is involved in mentoring postdoctoral fellows and clinical research fellows in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Publications
For my complete bibliography, Click Here.
Selected Publications:
Xie, B, Ramirez, W, Mills, AM, Huckestein, BR, Anderson, M, Pangburn, MM, Lang, EY, Mullet, SJ, Chuan, BW, Guo, L, Sipula, I, O'Donnell, CP, Wendell, SG, Scott, I, Jurczak, MJ. Empagliflozin restores cardiac metabolic flexibility in diet-induced obese C57BL6/J mice. Current Research in Physiology. 2022; 5: 232-239.
Edmunds, LR, Xie, B, Mills, AM, Huckestein, BR, Undamatla, R, Murali, A, Pangburn, MM, Martin, J, Kaufman, BA, Scott, I, Jurczak, MJ. Liver-specific Prkn knockout mice are more susceptible to diet-induced hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance. Molecular Metabolism. 2020; 41: 101051.
Edmunds, LR, Huckestein, BR, Kahn, M, Zhang, D, Chu, Y, Zhang, Y, Wendell, SG, Shulman, GI, Jurczak, MJ. Hepatic insulin sensitivity is improved in high-fat diet-fed Park2 knockout mice in association with increased hepatic AMPK activation and reduced steatosis. Physiological Reports. 2019; 7(21): e14281.
Thapa, D., Wu, K., Stoner, M. W., Xie, B., Zhang, M., Manning, J. R., Lu, Z., Li, J. H., Chen, Y., Gucek, M., Playford, M. P., Mehta, N. N., Harmon, D., O'Doherty, R. M., Jurczak, M. J., Sack, M. N., Scott, I. The protein acetylase GCN5L1 modulates hepatic fatty acid oxidation activity via acetylation of the mitochondrial ß-oxidation enzyme HADHA. J Biol Chem. 2018; Epub ahead of print.
Jurczak, M. J., Saini, S., Ioja, S., Costa, D. K., Udeh, N., Zhao, X., Whaley, J. M., Kibbey, R. G. SGLT2 knockout prevents hyperglycemia and is associated with reduced pancreatic ß-cell death in genetically obese mice. Islets. 2018; 1-9.
Thapa, D., Stoner, M. W., Zhang, M., Xie, B., Manning, J. R., Guimaraes, D., Shiva, S., Jurczak, M. J., Scott, I. Adropin regulates pyruvate dehydrogenase in cardiac cells via a novel GPCR-MAPK-PDK4 signaling pathway. Redox Biol. 2018; 18: 25-32.
Flannery, C. A., Choe, G. H., Fleming, A. G., Cooke, K. M., Radford, C. C., Kodaman, P. H., Jurczak, M. J., Kibbey, R. G., Taylor, H. S. Insulin Regulates Glycogen Synthesis in Human Endometrial Glands through Increased GYS2. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018; Epub ahead of print.
Xiong, J., Kawagishi, H., Yan, Y., Liu, J., Wells, Q. S., Edmunds, L. R., Fergusson, M. M., Yu, Z. X., Rovira, I. I., Birttain, E. L., Wolfgang, M. J., Jurczak, M. J., Fessel, J. P., Finkel, T. A Metabolic Basis for Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition. Mol Cell. 2018; 69(4): 689-698.e7.
Lawan, A., Min, K., Zhang, L., Canfran-Duque, A., Jurczak, M. J., Camporez, J. P. G., Nie, Y., Gavin, T. P., Shulman, G. I., Hernandez-Fernando, C., Bennet, A. M. Skeletal Muscle-Specific Deletion of MKP-1 Reveals a p38 MAPK/JNK/Akt Signaling Node that Regulates Obesity-Induced Insulin Resistance. Diabetes. 2018; 67(4): 624-635.
Petersen, MC, Jurczak, MJ. CrossTalk opposing view: Intramyocellular ceramide accumulation do not modulate insulin resistance. The Journal of Physiology. 2016; 594(12): 3171-4.
Sponsored Research/Activities
Title: Role of Fbxo48-mediated AMPK Proteostasis in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of NAFLD
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, & Kidney Disease
Grant Number: R01 DK119627
Start Year: 2019
End Year: 2023
Title: Obesity-Associated Mitophagy Resistance
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, & Kidney Disease
Grant Number: R01 DK114012
Start Year: 2018
End Year: 2023
Title: Molecular mechanisms and novel biological-based therapies for anthrax lethal toxin-induced mortality
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health
Grant Number: R56 AI148134
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2025
Title: Novel Strategies to Resolve Metabolic Defects in the Diabetic Heart
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL147861
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2024
Title: Novel Strategies to Resolve Metabolic Defects in the Diabetic Heart
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL147861
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2024
Title: Overcoming Insulin Deficiency and Resistance to Reduce Diabetes Risk
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: Pittsburgh Foundation
Grant Number: RES
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2021
Title: Molecular mechanisms and novel biological-based therapies for anthrax lethal toxin-induced mortality
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health
Grant Number: R56 AI148134
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2021
Title: The Role of Calcium Entry Through the Mitochondrial Uniporter in Regulating Cardiac Metabolism and Physiology
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL142589
Start Year: 2019
End Year: 2023
Title: Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging (SOMMA)
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: California Pacific Medical Center/ National Institute of Aging
Grant Number: R01 AG059416
Start Year: 2019
End Year: 2020
Title: Regulation of Fuel Utilization by Lysine Acetylation in the Failing Heart
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL132917
Start Year: 2017
End Year: 2021
Notable Achievements
Department of Medicine PhD Leadership Council, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2021-2022
Medical Student Mentoring Merit Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2022
Allen Humphrey Excellence in Mentoring Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2017
UPP Academic Foundation Young Investigator Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2016
American Diabetes Association Research Grant Review Committee Member, 2016
Former Co-Director of the NIH-funded Yale Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center In Vivo Metabolism Core, 2011-2015
Inaugural Invited Lecture, Committee on Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition Alumni Lecture, University of Chicago, 2011
Commitee Award for Outstanding Performance inthe General Field of Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition, University of Chicago, 2008

Division Websites

Cardiology

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

General Internal Medicine

Geriatric Medicine
Hematology/Oncology

Infectious Diseases

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Renal-Electrolyte

Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Contact

Department of Medicine
1218 Scaife Hall
3550 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Email:  chairoff@pitt.edu
Phone:  412-648-9636
Copyright © 2018 Department of Medicine / University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Site maintained by Medicine Technology Services MTS@PITT.EDU