Lawrence I. Grossman, PhD

Henry L. Brasza Professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Director, Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Professor of Internal Medicine
Scott Hall, Rm 3129
540 E. Canfield Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313-577-5326
lgrossman@wayne.edu

Laboratory Page

Education

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, PhD, 1971

Research Focus

We work on mitochondrial molecular genetics. Mitochondria are semi-autonomous organelles because they have their own DNA and genetic machinery but must cooperate with the nucleus to function. Mitochondria contain about 1500 proteins, most nucleus encoded, and carry out a number of functions, most centrally to provide most of the energy in the cell. So important is proper energy functionin that mitochondria turn out to be responsible for, or to be involved in, a growing array of diseases, including many common late onset diseases such as various peripheral neuropathies, cardiomyopathies, and type II diabetes. We are focusing increasingly on mitochondrial disease mechanisms, including genomic approaches to population disease susceptibilities. We are also interested in the evolutionary emergence of an enlarged neocortex, the most highly oxygen-utilizing tissue.

Mentoring

Accepting new M.S. students in 2024/2025

Accepting new Ph.D. students in 2024/2025

Recent lab members

Stephanie Gladyck
Ananya Tupaki Sreepurna
Yusef Kunji
Mallika Somanajulu
Kuntal Sen
Caleb Vegh
Marissa Petitpas

Recent Publications

Purandare N, Ghosalkar E, Grossman LI, Aras S (2024). Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation in Viral Infections. Viruses, 15(12):2380. doi: 10.3390/v15122380.

Yanagisawa S, Kamei T, Shimada A, Gladyck S, Aras S, Hüttemann M, Grossman LI, Kubo M (2024). Resonance Raman spectral analysis on the heme site structure of cytochrome c oxidase with its positive regulator CHCHD2. J Inorganic Biochem, 2024 Nov;260:112673. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2024.112673. Epub 2024 Jul 25. PMID: 39094247.

Corti1 G, Kim J, Enguita FJ, Guarnieri JW, Grossman LI, Costes SV, Fuentealba M, Scott RT, Magrini A, Sanders LM, Singh K, Sen CK, Juran CM, Paul AM, Furman D, Calleja-Agius J, Mason CE, Galeano D, Bottini M, Beheshti A (2024). To boldly go where no microRNAs have gone before: Spaceflight impact on risk for small-for-gestational-age infants. Communications Biology, Oct 5;7(1):1268. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06944-6.PMID: 39369042.

Aras S and Grossman, LI (2024). Inborn Metabolic Defects of Mitochondria. In Brady et al., editors, “Basic Neurochemistry” (Elsevier). In press.

Obaidat D, Giordo R, Kleinbrink EL, Banisad E, Grossman LI, Arshad R, Stark A, Maroun MC, Lipovich L, Fernández Madrid F (2023). Non-coding regions of nuclear-DNA-encoded mitochondrial genes and lncRNAs are targeted by autoantibodies in breast cancer. Frontiers Genet, DOI 10.3389/fgene.2022.970619.

Chehade H, Purandare N, Fox A, Adzibolosu N, Jayee S, Singh A, Tedja R, Gogoi R, Aras S, Grossman LI, Mor G, Alvero AB (2023). MNRR1 is a driver of ovarian cancer progression. Translational Oncology, Mar;29:101623. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2023.101623.

Bosco M, Romero R, Gallo D, Suksai M, Gotsch F, Jung E, Chaemsaithong P, Tarca AL, Gomez-Lopez N, Arenas-Hernandez M, Meyyazhagan A, Al Gasem M, Grossman LI, Aras S, Chaiworapongsa T (2023). Evidence for the participation of CHCHD2/MNRR1, a mitochondrial protein, in spontaneous labor at term and in preterm labor with intra-amniotic infection. J Maternal- Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, Dec;36(1):2183088. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2023.2183088. PMID: 36941246.

Bosco M, Romero R, Gallo D, Suksai M, Gotsch F, Jung E, Chaemsaithong P, Tarca AL, Gomez-Lopez N, Arenas-Hernandez M, Meyyazhagan A, Al Gasem M, Franchi, MP, Grossman LI, Aras S, Chaiworapongsa T (2023). Clinical chorioamnionitis at term is characterized by changes in the plasma concentration of CHCHD2/MNRR1, a mitochondrial protein. J Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, Dec;36(2):2222333. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2023.2222333. PMID: 37349086.

Purandare N, Gomex-Lopez N, Arenas-Hernandez M, Galaz J, Romero R, Xi Y, Fribley AM, Grossman LI, Aras S (2023). The MNRR1 activator nitazoxanide abrogates lipopolysaccharide- induced preterm birth in mice. Placenta 140, 66–71.

Suksai M, Romero R, Bosco M, Gotsch F, Jung E, Chaemsaithong P, Tarca AL, Gudicha, DW, Gomez-Lopez N, Arenas-Hernandez M, Meyyazhagan A, Grossman LI, Aras S, Chaiworapongsa T (2023). A mitochondrial regulator protein, MNRR1, is elevated in the maternal blood of women with preeclampsia. J Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, doi.org/10.1080/14767058.2023.2297158

Purandare N, Kunji Y, Xi Y, Romero R, Gomez-Lopez N, Fribley A, Grossman LI, Aras S (2022). Lipopolysaccharide induces placental mitochondrial dysfunction by reducing MNRR1 levels via a TLR4-independent pathway. iScience, Oct 12;25(11):105342. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105342.

Erickson RP, Grossman LI, and Aras S (2022). An explanation for the decreased severity of liver malfunction in Niemann-Pick C1 disease with age. J Applied Genetics, doi: 10.1007/s13353-022- 00695-y. PMID: 35508755

Motomura K, Romero R, Galaz J, Tao L, Garcia-Flores V, Xu Y, Done B, Arenas-Hernandez M, Miller D, Gutierrez-Contreras P, Farias-Jofre M, Aras S, Grossman LI, Tarca AL, Gomez-Lopez N (2022). Fetal and Maternal NLRP3 Signaling is Required for Preterm Labor and Birth. JCI Insight, 2022;7(16):e158238. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci. insight.158238.

Pak O, Nolte A, Knoepp F, Giordano L, Pecina P, Hüttemann M, Grossman LI, Weissmann N, Sommer N (2022). Mitochondrial oxygen sensing of acute hypoxia in specialized cells - is there a unifying mechanism? Biochim Biophys Acta Bioenerg, DOI: 0.1016/j.bbabio.2022.148911 PMID:Curriculum vitae Page 1535988811.

Aras S, Purandare N, Grossman LI (2021). Mitochondrial metabolism and carcinogenesis. In “Mitochondrial Metabolism,” Editors Jalal Pourahmad and Mohsen Rezaei, Elsevier: Academic Press, pp 119-154. ISBN 978-0-12-822416-8.

Kalpage HA, Wan J, Morse PT, Zurek MP, Turner AA, Khobeir A, Yazdi N, Hakim A, Liu J, Vaishnav A, Sanderson TH, Recanati M-A, Grossman LI, Lee I, Edwards BFP, Hüttemann M (2020). Cytochrome c phosphorylation: Control of mitochondrial electron transport chain flux and apoptosis. Int J Biochem Cell Biol, 121:105704. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105704. PMID: 32023432.

Hüttemann M, Sommer N, Weissmann N, Grossman LI (2019). Letter by Hüttemann et al Regarding Article, "Ndufs2, a Core Subunit of Mitochondrial Complex I, Is Essential for Acute Oxygen-Sensing and Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction". Circ Res 125(8): e33-e34. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.315815.

Wan J, Kalpage H, Vaishnav A, Liu J, Lee I, Mahapatra G, Moraes CT, Recanati M-A, Grossman LI, Salomon AR, Edwards BFP, Hüttemann M (2019). Cytochrome c Threonine 58 phosphorylation Regulates Respiration and Apoptosis. Scientific Reports, 9(1):15815. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52101-z. PMID: 31676852.

Moreno-Domínguez A, Ortega-Sáenz P, Gao L, Colinas O, García-Flores P, Bonilla-Henao V, Aragonés J, Hüttemann M, Grossman LI, Weissmann N, Sommer N, López-Barneo J (2019). Acute oxygen sensing through HIF2a-dependent expression of atypical cytochrome oxidase subunits in arterial chemoreceptors. Science Signaling, 13(615). pii: eaay9452. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.aay9452. PMID: 31848220.

Kalpage H, Vaishnav A, Liu J, Varughese A, Wan J, Ji Q, Kapralov AA, Kagan VE, Brunzelle JS, Recanati MA, Grossman LI, Sanderson TH, Lee I, Salomon RE, Edwards BFP, Hüttemann M (2019. Serine-47 Phosphorylation of Cytochrome c in the Mammalian Brain Regulates Mitochondrial Respiration and Apoptosis. FASEB J, 33(12):13503-13514. doi: 10.1096/fj.201901120R. PMID: 31570002.

Erickson RP, Aras S , Hüttemann M, Dragotto J, Fiorenza MT, and Grossman LI (2019). Decreased membrane cholesterol in liver mitochondria of the point mutation mouse model of juvenile Niemann-Pick C1, Npc1^nmf164. Mitochondrion, 51:15-21. doi: 10.1016/j.mito.2019.12.003. PMID: 31862414.

Aras S, Maroun MC, Song Y, Bandyopadhyay S, Stark A, Yang Z, Grossman LI, and Fernández-Madrid F (2019). Mitochondrial autoimmunity and the role of MNRR1 in breast carcinogenesis. BMC Cancer. 19: 411. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-5575-7.

Talreja J, Talwar H, Bauerfeld C, Tranchida P, Grossman LI, and Samavati L (2019). HIF-1α Regulates IL-1β and IL-17 in Sarcoidosis. eLife, May 1;8. pii: e44519. doi: 10.7554/eLife.44519.

Kalpage HA, Bazylianska V, Recanati MR, Fite A, Liu J, Wan J, Mantena N, Malek MH, Podgorski I , Heath EI, Vaishnav A, Edwards B, Grossman LI, Sanderson TH, Lee I, and Hüttemann M (2018). Tissue-Specific Regulation of Cytochrome c by Posttranslational Modifications: Respiration, the Mitochondrial Membrane Potential, ROS, and Apoptosis. FASEB J, 33: 1540-1553. PMID: 30222078

Purandare N, Somayajulu M, Hüttemann M, Grossman LI, Aras S. (2018). CHCHD10 and MNRR1 (CHCHD2): Partners in mitochondrial and nuclear function and dysfunction. J Biol Chem, 293, 6517-6529.