Mentor: Dr. Thomas M. Michel
During my long-term PhD studies in the lab of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang F. Graier at the Medical University of Graz, I acquired considerable experience in the field of various fluorescence imaging techniques with the main research focus on endothelial cell function and mitochondrial metabolism. Together with my co-workers I generated numerous fluorescent biosensors for the detection of intracellular Ca2+, ATP, NO, H+ and K+.
To expand my knowledge on vascular cell function I joined the lab of Thomas M. Michel, MD, PhD who developed novel strategies for the investigation of ROS signaling in cardiac and vascular systems. Beside Ca2+, the most abundant intracellular ROS, H2O2, serves as another fundamental second messenger that triggers important cellular functions as well as cell death pathways. Since I joined Dr. Michel’s Laboratory in October 2019, we were able to finalize and publish a work in Redox Biology. By constructing novel tools for the generation and detection of differentially targeted H2O2, we were able to demonstrate the effect of endogenously formed H2O2 from distinct subcellular locales on eNOS phosphorylation pathways. While this study is based on the H2O2 generating enzyme DAAO, I currently investigate in physiological agonist treatments mediating subcellular H2O2 formation in endothelial cells. Although many studies had been published in the past, little is known under which condition this versatile molecule appears and thus its distinct molecular mechanisms for the cells’ fate remain widely elusive.