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Alexander R. Moise, PhD

NOSM University
317-MSE Bldg.,935 Ramsey Lake Road
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Phone:705-662-7253
Email: amoise@nosm.ca
Associate Professor, Medical Sciences Division, NOSM University
Faculty member, Biomolecular Sciences Graduate Program
Cross-appointed, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Laurentian University

Education/Training

 2016-2017

 Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

 2009-2016

 Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

 2005-2009

 Instructor, Pharmacology
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

 2003-2005

 Postdoctoral fellowship, Ophthalmology
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

 2000-2002

 Postdoctoral fellowship
Biotechnology Laboratory (Michael Smith Laboratories) Vancouver, British Columbia

 2000

 Ph.D. Zoology
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Profile

My research is focused on the signaling pathways that involve vitamin A and its related carotenoid compounds. While many developing countries still grapple with nutritional deficiencies (including vitamin A deficiency), in developed countries, the increasing prevalence of multifactorial, chronic disorders affecting an aging population puts great demands on our healthcare system and society. In our lab, we aim to gain a better understanding of the role of micronutrients in health and disease to help prevent and treat nutritional deficiencies, or excess, and to investigate new potential tools and therapeutic approaches for chronic disorders.

Using cellular and transgenic animal models, analytical chemistry and protein structure-function approaches, our current focus explores the roles of vitamin A and carotenoids in the development and repair of the heart and in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular and visual disorders. Our work has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (USA), the Fulbright US Scholar Program, and involves ongoing collaborations with research groups in the Unites States, UK, Brazil and Germany.

Expertise

Cardiovascular development, cardiovascular disease, lipid metabolism, lipid signaling, carotenoids, nuclear receptors, nutrition, retinoic acid, retinoids, visual cycle, vitamin a.

Selected Publications

Pang XY, Wang S, Jurczak MJ, Shulman GI, Moise AR. Retinol saturase modulates lipid metabolism and the production of reactive oxygen species. Arch BiochemBiophys. 2017 Nov 1;633:93-102. PubMed PMID: 28927883; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5659944.

Shannon SR, Moise AR, Trainor PA. New insights and changing paradigms in the regulation of vitamin A metabolism in development. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2017 May;6(3). Review. PubMed PMID: 28207193.

Xavier-Neto J, Sousa Costa ÂM, Figueira AC, Caiaffa CD, Amaral FN, Peres LM, da Silva BS, Santos LN, Moise AR, Castillo HA. Signaling through retinoic acid receptors in cardiac development: Doing the right things at the right times. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015 Feb;1849(2):94-111. Review. PubMed PMID: 25134739; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4349352.

Moise AR, Al-Babili S, Wurtzel ET. Mechanistic aspects of carotenoid biosynthesis. Chem Rev. 2014 Jan 8;114(1):164-93. Review. PubMed PMID: 24175570; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3898671.

Billings SE, Pierzchalski K, Butler Tjaden NE, Pang XY, Trainor PA, Kane MA, Moise AR. The retinaldehyde reductase DHRS3 is essential for preventing the formation of excess retinoic acid during embryonic development. FASEB J. 2013 Dec;27(12):4877-89. PubMed PMID: 24005908; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3834788.

Pang XY, Cao J, Addington L, Lovell S, Battaile KP, Zhang N, Rao JL, Dennis EA, Moise AR. Structure/function relationships of adipose phospholipase A2 containing a cys-his-his catalytic triad. J Biol Chem. 2012 Oct 12;287(42):35260-74. PubMed PMID: 22923616; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3471684.

Moise AR, Lobo GP, Erokwu B, Wilson DL, Peck D, Alvarez S, Domínguez M, Alvarez R, Flask CA, de Lera AR, von Lintig J, Palczewski K. Increased adiposity in the retinol saturase-knockout mouse. FASEB J. 2010 Apr;24(4):1261-70. PubMed PMID: 19940255; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2845435.