Bishr Omary, MD, PhD

Executive Vice Dean for Research, Medical School
Chief Scientific Officer of Michigan Medicine
Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology
H Marvin Pollard Professor of Gastroenterology Professor, Internal Medicine

7708B Medical Science II
1137 E. Catherine St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5622

mbishr@umich.edu
(734) 764-9283

Areas of Interest

My laboratory has worked on intermediate filament proteins since 1989, and our work focuses on understanding the disease association, function and regulation of keratins and lamins in digestive organs. A related relevant area of focus is drug screening to identify potential compound that may have therapeutic benefit for the more than 70 intermediate filament associated diseases for which directed therapies are completely lacking. Two other major areas we are involved with are aimed at defining biomarkers for acute and chronic liver and pancreatic diseases, and pursuing molecular understanding of porphyria pathogenesis and related therapeutic approaches.

Selected Publications:

A. Original Manuscripts:

  • Strnad P, Zhou Q, Hanada S, Lazzeroni LC, Zhong BH, So P, Davern TJ and Lee WM for the Acute Liver Failure Study Group (ALFSG), Omary MB. (2010). Keratin variants predispose to acute liver failure and adverse outcome: Race and ethnic associations. Gastroenterology 139:828-835.
  • Ku NO, Toivola DM Pavel Strnad P, Omary MB. (2010). Cytoskeletal keratin glycosylation protects epithelial tissue from injury. Nature Cell Biol12:876-885.
  • Habtezion A, Toivola DM, Asghar MN, Kronmal GS, Brooks JD, Butcher EC, Omary MB. (2011). Absence of keratin 8 confers a paradoxical microflora-dependent resistance to apoptosis in the colon. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108:1445-1450.
  • Snider NT, Singla A, Weerasinghe SV, Hanada S, Lok AS and Omary MB. (2011). Energy determinants GAPDH and NDPK act as genetic modifiers for hepatocyte inclusion formation. J Cell Biol 195:217-229.
  • Singla A, Moons DS, Snider NT, Wagenmaker ER, Jayasundera VB, Omary MB. (2012). Oxidative stress, Nrf2 and keratin upregulation associate with Mallory-Denk body formation in mouse erythropoietic protoporphyria. Hepatology 56:322-331.
  • Snider NT, Leonard JM, Kwan R, Griggs NW, Rui L, Omary MB. (2013). Glucose and SIRT2 reciprocally mediate the regulation of keratin 8 by lysine acetylation. J Cell Biol 200:241-247.
  • Maitra D, Elenbaas JS, Whitesall SE, D’Alecy LG, Basrur V, Omary MB. (2015). Ambient light promotes selective subcellular proteotoxicity after endogenous and exogenous porphyrinogenic stress. J Biol Chem 290:23711-23724.
  • Weerasinghe SVW, Park MJ, Portney DA, Omary MB. (2016). Mouse genetic background contributes to hepatocyte susceptibility to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Molec Biol Cell 27:3005-3012.
  • Elenbaas JS, Maitra D, Liu Y, Lentz SI, Nelson B, Hoenerhoff MJ, Shavit JA, Omary MB. (2016). A precursor-inducible zebrafish model of acute protoporphyria with hepatic protein aggregation and multi-organelle stress. FASEB J 30:1798-1810.
  • Kwan R, Brady GF, Brozozowski M, Weerasinghe SV, Martin H, Park MJ, Brunt MJ, Menon RK, Tong X, Yin L, Stewart CL, Omary MB. (2017). Hepatocyte-specific deletion of mouse lamin A/C leads to male-selective steatohepatitis. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 4:365-383.

B. Reviews:

  • Omary MB, Coulombe PA and McLean WHI (2004). Intermediate filament proteins and their associated diseases. N Engl J Med 351:2087-100.
  • Toivola DM, Strnad P, Habtezion A, Omary MB (2010). Intermediate filaments take the heat as stress proteins. Trends Cell Biol 20:79-91.
  • Snider NT, Omary MB. (2014). Post-translational modifications of intermediate filament proteins: mechanisms and functions. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 15:163-177.
  • Ku NO, Strnad P, Bantel H, Omary MB. (2016). Keratins: Biomarkers and modulators of apoptotic and necrotic cell death in the liver. Hepatology 64:966-976.

Credentials

Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1980
M.D., University of Miami, 1984