Markus Cicka
Program: Molecular Cell Biology
Current advisor: Kory J. Lavine, MD, PhD
Undergraduate university: Emory University
Research summary
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States. Hypertensive heart disease is a major cause of heart failure and its pathogenesis is enhanced by local and systemic inflammation. Interleukin-1b (IL-1b) levels are markedly elevated following various forms of cardiac injury and in heart failure patients and are associated with poor prognosis. IL-1b activates the downstream protein called MYD88, which also may be activated via damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) or alarmins via toll-like receptors (TLRs) after heart injury. I am currently investigating how recruited MYD88 KO monocytes and monocyte derived macrophages respond after cardiac injury.
Graduate publications
Holt M, Lin J, Cicka M, Wong A, Epelman S, Lavine KJ.. 2024 Dissecting and Visualizing the Functional Diversity of Cardiac Macrophages. Circ Res, 134(12):1791-1807.