Naftali Kaminski,
Associate Professor of Medicine
MD, Hebrew University -
Hadassah Medical School - 1989
Email: kaminskin@upmc.edu
Research Interests:
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive interstitial lung disease that is currently incurable. The main research interests of my team are the basic mechanisms underlying pulmonary fibrosis and the way that molecular networks determine tissue and cellular phenotype. To study these mechanisms we apply a systems biology approach that incorporates a combination of traditional molecular biology methods, high-throughput genomic technologies such as expression and location microarrays, advanced bioinformatic approaches and targeted proteomic approaches. As a result of these studies we have identified key regulatory molecules as well as potential biomarkers that we are currently studying. The specific research projects and interests are detailed below:
Basic mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis
- Understanding and identifying the genetic and molecular networks that lead to the fibrotic lung phenotype using high throughput genomic and proteomic technologies.
- Understanding specific transcriptional signatures of normal and abnormal cell populations in the fibrotic lung and dissecting the temporal changes that occur in these cell populations during this abnormal process (laser capture microdissection).
- The role of WNT pathway in lung injury and repair.
- The role and regulation of MMP7 in human pulmonary fibrosis
- The role and regulation of osteopontin in human pulmonary fibrosis
Understanding regulatory networks in complex organs
- High throughput analysis of promoter binding by lung disease relevant transcription factors (Chip on CHIP)
- Role of miRNA in advanced lung disease (IPF, Emphysema)
Diagnostic markers in chronic and progressive lung disease
- The impact of organ confined disease on peripheral blood gene expression patterns
- The use of gene expression patterns in peripheral blood mononuclear cells to diagnose and predict outcome in pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer and acute and chronic lung transplant rejection
- The use of targeted mini proteomic approaches to identify peripheral markers for chronic advanced lung diseases.
Cellular and molecular networks in the living organism
- TIdentifying stimulus specific transcriptional signatures in primary cells
- Identifying disease specific transcriptional signature in surrogate tissues and circulating peripheral blood cells
- Modeling the response of epithelial and circulating peripheral blood cells to a complex injury
Tools and analytical approaches for gene expression analysis
- Statistical analysis of microarray results
- Identifying regulatory modules using gene expression data
- Integrating multiple levels of biological and clinical information with gene expression and proteomic data
Recent Publications
Wang, X. M., Y. Zhang, H. P. Kim, Z. Zhou, C. A. Feghali-Bostwick, F. Liu, E. Ifedigbo, X. Xu, T. D. Oury, N. Kaminski, and A. M. Choi. 2006. Caveolin-1: a critical regulator of lung fibrosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. J Exp Med 203(13):2895-906.
Dehan, E., A. Ben-Dor, W. Liao, D. Lipson, H. Frimer, S. Rienstein, D. Simansky, M. Krupsky, P. Yaron, E. Friedman, G. Rechavi, M. Perlman, A. Aviram-Goldring, S. Izraeli, M. Bittner, Z. Yakhini, and +N. Kaminski. 2007. Chromosomal aberrations and gene expression profiles in non-small cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer.
Feghali-Bostwick, C. A., C. G. Tsai, V. G. Valentine, S. Kantrow, M. W. Stoner, J. M. Pilewski, A. Gadgil, M. P. George, K. F. Gibson, A. M. Choi, N. Kaminski, Y. Zhang, and S. R. Duncan. 2007. Cellular and humoral autoreactivity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. J Immunol 179(4):2592-9.
Novershtern, N., Z. Itzhaki, O. Manor, N. Friedman, and +N. Kaminski. 2007. A Functional and Regulatory Map of Asthma. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol.
Radom-Aizik, S., N. Kaminski, S. Hayek, H. Halkin, D. M. Cooper, and I. Ben-Dov. 2007. Effects of exercise training on quadriceps muscle gene expression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Appl Physiol 102(5):1976-84.
Rosas, I. O., and +N. Kaminski. 2007. When it comes to genes--IPF or NSIP, familial or sporadic--they're all the same. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 175(1):5-6.
Selman, M., G. Carrillo, A. Estrada, M. Mejia, C. Becerril, J. Cisneros, M. Gaxiola, R. Perez-Padilla, C. Navarro, T. Richards, J. Dauber, T. E. King, Jr., A. Pardo, and N. Kaminski. 2007. Accelerated variant of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: clinical behavior and gene expression pattern. PLoS ONE 2(5):e482.
tuder, S. M., and N. Kaminski. 2007. Towards systems biology of human pulmonary fibrosis. Proc Am Thorac Soc 4(1):85-91.
Kaminski, N., and Z. Bar-Joseph. 2007. A patient-gene model for temporal expression profiles in clinical studies. J Comput Biol 14(3):324-38.
Selman, M., A. Pardo, and N. Kaminski. 2007. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Aberrant Recapitulation of Developmental Programs? PLoS Med In Press.
