Jason Bazil

Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology

Assistant Professor , BioMolecular Science Gateway

Location: Biomedical Physical Sciences Building

Address: 567 Wilson Rd Rm 3195

Phone: 517-884-5124

Email: jnbazil@msu.edu

Website: https://bazillab.com/

Photo of: Jason Bazil

Bio

###Research Interests
Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in the US and worldwide. And a significant portion of deaths are caused by a myocardial infarction which precipitates a lethal injury that involves mitochondria. According to the AHA, every half minute or so, an American has a myocardial infarction and dies from one every minute and a half. These alarming statistics demonstrate the need for a better understanding of the conditions surrounding the injury. In particular, the critical events during ischemia and the effects caused by the injury are not well defined. In order to develop preventative and mitigative measures, research efforts must characterize these phenomena in greater detail and identify the constitutive elements and their complex interactions. My lab uses an integrative strategy that combines both computational modeling and experimental physiology to study these phenomena.
Mitochondria are known to be involved in many pathologies and injuries. Yet little is known of the precise mechanisms by which mitochondrial processes can lead to disease. My lab is pursuing therapeutic strategies by first characterizing mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunction in heart disease and then identifying feasible measures to prevent it. Much of our work on this topic is focused on cardiac mitochondria. We use state-of-the-art instrumentation to analyze lethal reperfusion injury by monitoring the response of mitochondria to calcium overload and oxidative stress.
In addition, my lab is developing methods for large-scale data analysis. The availability of tools used to query so-called Big Data in an informative manner lag far behind our ability to produce these data. Unlike standard approaches which rely on statistical inference and association, our contributions in this area couple dynamical modeling with network inference and reverse engineering. My lab applies these tools to analyze large-scale data and generates predictive models that are useful for emerging applications in pharmacogenomics and systems pharmacology.

Selected Publications

Bazil JN, Blomeyer CA, Stowe DF, Dash RK, and AKS Camara. “Mg2+ differentially regulates two modes of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake in isolated cardiac mitochondria: Implications for mitochondrial Ca2+ sequestration.” Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes, 2016, 48(3): 175-88. PMC5098337.
Bazil, JN, KC Vinnakota, and DA Beard. “Catalytic Coupling of Oxidative Phosphorylation, ATP Demand, and Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species Generation.” Biophysical Journal, 2016, 110(4): 962-71. PMID: 26910433.
JN Bazil. “Analysis of a Functional Dimer Model of Ubiquinol Cytochrome c Oxidoreductase.” Biophysical Journal, 2017, 113(7):1599-1612. PMC5627346.
Moxley, MA, DA Beard, and JN Bazil. “A pH-Dependent Kinetic Model of Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase from Multiple Organisms.” Biophysical Journal, 2014, 107(12): 2993-3007. PMC4269776.
Moxley, MA, DA Beard, and JN Bazil. “Global Kinetic Analysis of Mammalian E3 Reveals pH-dependent NAD+/NADH Regulation, Physiological Kinetic Reversibility, and Catalytic Optimum.” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2016, 291(6):2712-30. PMID: 26644471.
Vinnakota, KC, JN Bazil, FA Van den Bergh, RW Wiseman, and DA Beard. “Feedback Regulation and Time Hierarchy of Oxidative Phosphorylation in Cardiac Mitochondria.” Biophysical Journal, 2016, 110(4):972-80. PMID: 26910434.
Wollenman LC, Vander Ploeg MR, Miller ML, Zhang Y, and JN Bazil. “The effect of respiration buffer composition on mitochondrial metabolism and function.” PLoS One, 2017, 12(11):e0187523. PMC5665555.