Sohel Shamsuzzaman
- Phone: 434-924-5993
- Fax: 434-924-2828
Primary Appointment
Research Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics
Education
- B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka
- M.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka
- M.Sc., Immunology of Infectious Diseases, LSHTM, University of London
- Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Postdoc, Cardiovascular Research, University of Virginia
Research Disciplines
Biochemistry, Bioinformatics and Genomics, Cardiovascular Biology, Immunology, Molecular Biology
Research Interests
Understanding the molecular basis of atherosclerotic plaque development and late-stage pathogenesis, in particular the mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for vascular calcification.
Research Description
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease whose late-stage clinical complications including myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke, are the leading causes of death worldwide. Clinical trials of anti-inflammatory therapies yield only modest benefits, underscoring the need for alternative approaches to enhance atherosclerotic plaque stability. One potential approach is to target transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling which has been proposed to play a critical role in atherosclerosis development and late-stage pathogenesis.
Whereas single-cell RNA sequencing and Myh11-smooth muscle cell (SMC) lineage tracing studies by our laboratory and others have provided extensive evidence that SMC-derived cells within atherosclerotic lesions display a wide range of distinct phenotypes, including a subset of Myh11+ medial cells that activate stem cell antigen-1 (Sca1), the role of Sca1 in atherosclerosis development remains unknown. Using unique Myh11 Sca1 dual recombinase and knockout mouse models, we aim to identify the functional role and mechanisms of Sca1 in atherosclerosis development and late-stage pathogenesis. We are testing the hypothesis that Sca1 has a major role in atherosclerosis development and late-stage pathological events by negatively regulating TGFβ signaling. In our novel SR-BIΔCT/ΔCT/Ldlr-/- mouse model of spontaneous plaque rupture, heart attack and stroke, we seek to determine whether Sca1 inhibition alters TGFβ signaling and improves survival due to reduced heart attack and stroke. Another major focus of our laboratory is to identify novel mechanisms and factors that lead to vascular calcification with a long-term goal is to prevent and/or reverse vascular calcification without compromising bone health.
Selected Publications
2025
Stepanian A, Travers RJ, Tesfu A, Wolter NL, Man JJ, Lu Q, Shamsuzzaman S, Deaton RA, Owens GK, Chen CS, Jaffe IZ. Ponatinib, But Not the New Abl-Kinase Inhibitor Asciminib, Activates Platelets, Leukocytes, and Endothelial Cell TNF Signaling to Induce Atherosclerotic Plaque Inflammation, Myocardial Infarction, and Stroke. Circulation. 2025 Aug 5;. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.073610. PubMed PMID: 40762051; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12333468.
2024
Shamsuzzaman S*, Deaton RA*, Salamon A, Doviak H, Serbulea V, Milosek VM, Evans MA, Karnewar S, Saibaba S, Alencar GF, Shankman LS, Walsh K, Bekiranov S, Kocher O, Krieger M, Kull B, Persson M, Michaëlsson E, Bergenhem N, Heydarkhan-Hagvall S, Owens GK. Novel Mouse Model of Myocardial Infarction, Plaque Rupture, and Stroke Shows Improved Survival With Myeloperoxidase Inhibition. Circulation. 2024 Aug 27;150(9):687-705. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.123.067931. PubMed PMID: 38881440; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11347105.
2021
Newman AAC, Serbulea V, Baylis RA, Shankman LS, Bradley X, Alencar GF, Owsiany K, Deaton RA, Karnewar S, Shamsuzzaman S, Salamon A, Reddy MS, Guo L, Finn A, Virmani R, Cherepanova OA, Owens GK. Multiple cell types contribute to the atherosclerotic lesion fibrous cap by PDGFRβ and bioenergetic mechanisms. Nat Metab. 2021 Feb;3(2):166-181. doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-00338-8. PubMed PMID: 33619382; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7905710.
2020
Alencar GF, Owsiany KM, Karnewar S, Sukhavasi K, Mocci G, Nguyen AT, Williams CM, Shamsuzzaman S, Mokry M, Henderson CA, Haskins R, Baylis RA, Finn AV, McNamara CA, Zunder ER, Venkata V, Pasterkamp G, Björkegren J, Bekiranov S, Owens GK. Stem Cell Pluripotency Genes Klf4 and Oct4 Regulate Complex SMC Phenotypic Changes Critical in Late-Stage Atherosclerotic Lesion Pathogenesis. Circulation. 2020 Nov 24;142(21):2045-2059. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.046672. PubMed PMID: 32674599; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7682794.
O'Neill LM, Phang YX, Matango M, Shamsuzzaman S, Guo CA, Nelson DW, Yen CE, Ntambi JM. Global deficiency of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-2 protects against diet-induced adiposity. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2020 Jun 30;527(3):589-595. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.04.077. PubMed PMID: 32423819; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7310674.
2017
Shamsuzzaman S, Onal M, St John HC, Pike JW. Deletion of a Distal RANKL Gene Enhancer Delays Progression of Atherosclerotic Plaque Calcification in Hypercholesterolemic Mice. J Cell Biochem. 2017 Dec;118(12):4240-4253. doi: 10.1002/jcb.26074. PubMed PMID: 28419519; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5645213.
Shamsuzzaman S, Onal M, St John HC, Jeffery JJ, Pike JW. Absence of the Vitamin D Receptor Inhibits Atherosclerotic Plaque Calcification in Female Hypercholesterolemic Mice. J Cell Biochem. 2017 May;118(5):1050-1064. doi: 10.1002/jcb.25679. PubMed PMID: 27567005.
2016
Pike JW, Meyer MB, Benkusky NA, Lee SM, St John H, Carlson A, Onal M, Shamsuzzaman S. Genomic Determinants of Vitamin D-Regulated Gene Expression. Vitam Horm. 2016;100:21-44. doi: 10.1016/bs.vh.2015.10.011. Review. PubMed PMID: 26827947; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5113140.
2010
Taype CA, Shamsuzzaman S, Accinelli RA, Espinoza JR, Shaw MA. Genetic susceptibility to different clinical forms of tuberculosis in the Peruvian population. Infect Genet Evol. 2010 May;10(4):495-504. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2010.02.011. PubMed PMID: 20188863.
Sheikh A, Shamsuzzaman S, Ahmad SM, Nasrin D, Nahar S, Alam MM, Al Tarique A, Begum YA, Qadri SS, Chowdhury MI, Saha A, Larson CP, Qadri F. Zinc influences innate immune responses in children with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-induced diarrhea. J Nutr. 2010 May;140(5):1049-56. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.111492. PubMed PMID: 20237063.
2009
Shamsuzzaman S, Ahmed T, Mannoor K, Begum YA, Bardhan PK, Sack RB, Sack DA, Svennerholm AM, Holmgren J, Qadri F. Robust gut associated vaccine-specific antibody-secreting cell responses are detected at the mucosal surface of Bangladeshi subjects after immunization with an oral killed bivalent V. cholerae O1/O139 whole cell cholera vaccine: comparison with other mucosal and systemic responses. Vaccine. 2009 Feb 25;27(9):1386-92. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.12.041. Epub 2009 Jan 13. PubMed PMID: 19146897.
2005
Qadri F, Svennerholm AM, Shamsuzzaman S, Bhuiyan TR, Harris JB, Ghosh AN, Nair GB, Weintraub A, Faruque SM, Ryan ET, Sack DA, Calderwood SB. Reduction in capsular content and enhanced bacterial susceptibility to serum killing of Vibrio cholerae O139 associated with the 2002 cholera epidemic in Bangladesh. Infect Immun. 2005 Oct;73(10):6577-83. doi: 10.1128/IAI.73.10.6577-6583.2005. PubMed PMID: 16177333; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1230989.