LaboratoryBasic Science Researcher

Giuseppe Inesi, MD, PhD

Research Areas  |  Education  |  Academic Appointments  |  Publications

Research Areas

1. Mechanisms of free energy transduction in enzymes


2. Active transport (Ca²⁺) in biomembranes


3. Excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal and cardiac muscle


4. Ca²⁺ and signal transduction


5. Gene transfer in Eukaryotic cells

Dr. Inesi's laboratory has been engaged in a long term research project on Molecular and Cellular Aspects of the Ca²⁺ Transport ATPase. This enzyme is a membrane bound protein that utilizes ATP for active transport of Ca²⁺, and is required for storage of Ca²⁺ in intracellular stores. In turn, release of the stored Ca²⁺ is required for intracellular signaling and initiation of most cellular functions as a second messenger. Dr Inesi's molecular studies include determination of enzyme and transport kinetics, protein chemistry and derivatization of various amino acid residues, and production of recombinant protein to obtain specific mutations and assess their effects on catalytic and transport function. More recently, Idr Inesi has become involved in studies of bacterial and mammalian copper ATPases obtained by high yield heterologous expression in cultured cells, yielding characterization of specific phosphorylation and trafficking patterns related to copper matabolism in human diseases. This research is currently supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIHLBI) award.

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Education

1954 - University of Modena, Italy Doctor in Medicine

1960 - University of Bologna, Italy Docence (Ph.D)

1958-62 - University of Pennsylvania, Post doctoral Fellow

1963-65 - University of California San Francisco, Postdoctoral Fellow

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Academic Appointments

1965-70 - Established Investigator of the American Heart Association

1965-69 - University of California Assistant Professor
San Francisco, California Cardiovascular Research Institute

1969-72 - Carnegie-Mellon University Tenured Associate Professor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Biochemistry)

1972-81 - University of the Pacific Tenured Professor
San Francisco, California (Physiology)

1981-2006 - University of Maryland Tenured Professor
Biochemistry and Mol Biol
Chairman (1983-2006)
Baltimore, Maryland

1989-90 - Stanford University Visiting Professor
Stanford, California

1996-97 - University of California Visiting Professor
San Francisco, California

2005 - University of Florence, Italy
Visiting Professor

2006 - Calif. Pacific Med. Center Res. Inst.
Senior Scientist

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Publications

Publications by Giuseppe Inesi, M.D., PhD in PubMed.

Selected articles:

1. Clarke DM, Loo TW, Inesi G, MacLennan DH Location of high affinity Ca2+-binding sites within the predicted transmembrane domain of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase. Nature. 1989;339: 476-8


2. Inesi G Mechanism of Calcium Transport. Annual Review of Physiology 47:573-601 1985


3. Inesi G, Kurzmack M., Coan C, Lewis DE. Cooperative calcium binding and ATPase activation in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. J Biol Chem. 1980; 255: 3025-31


4. Sagara Y, Inesi G Inhibition of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ transport ATPase by thapsigargin at subnanomolar concentrations. J Biol Chem. 1991; 266:13503-6.


5. Scarpa A, Baldassare J, Inesi G The effect of calcium ionophores on fragmented sarcoplasmic reticulum. J Gen Physiol. 1972; 60: 735-49.


6. Inesi G, Lewis D, Toyoshima C, Hirata A, de Meis L. Conformational fluctuations of the Ca2+-ATPase in the native membrane environment. Effects of pH, temperature, catalytic substrates, and thapsigargin. J Biol Chem. 2008; 283:1189-96


7. Prasad AM, Ma H, Sumbilla C, Lee DI, Klein MG, Inesi G Phenylephrine hypertrophy, Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2), and Ca2+ signaling in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2007; 292: C2269-75;


8. Inesi G, Lewis D, Ma H, Prasad A, Toyoshima C. Concerted conformational effects of Ca2+ and ATP are required for activation of sequential reactions in the Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) catalytic cycle. Biochemistry. 2006; 45:13769-78;


9. Toyoshima C, Inesi G Structural basis of ion pumping by Ca2+-ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Annu Rev Biochem. 2004;73:269-92;


10. Tadini-Buoninsegni F, Bartolommei G, Moncelli MR, Guidelli R, Inesi G Pre-steady state electrogenic events of Ca2+/H+ exchange and transport by the Ca2+-ATPase. J Biol Chem. 2006; 281: 37720-7;


11. Prasad AM, Inesi G Effects of Thapsigargin and Phenylephrine on Calcineurin and Protein Kinase C Signaling Functions in Cardiac Myocytes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Feb 25;


12. Prasad AM, Inesi G. Downregulation of Ca2+ signalling proteins in cardiac hypertrophy. Minerva Cardioangiol. 2010; 58: 193-204.PMID: 20440249;


13. Inesi G. Calcium and copper transport ATPases: analogies and diversities in transduction and signaling mechanisms J. Cell Commun. Signal. 2011, 5: 227–237


14. WEB OF SCIENCE lists 12,469 citations of Dr Inesi’s articles as of April 2011.

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