Viktor Pastukh, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Viktor Pastukh, Instructor, received his Master's from Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University, Kyiv, Ukraine, his Ph.D. from Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv, Ukraine, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Pharmacology at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine.

Research

Role of mitochondrial DNA damage in endothelial cell apoptosis caused by oxidative stress, role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in lung vessels remodeling; Apoptosis in lung cells; Role glucose, fatty acid and insulin in mitochondrial DNA damage in cardiomyocytes caused by oxidative stress; Insulin-linked regulators of the MPT pore; Role of the T-type Ca2+ channel in osmotic preconditioning; Cell signaling systems (Ca2+, PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway, protein kinase C) after hypoxia and in osmotic preconditioning; Apoptosis in cardiomyocytes; Role of angiotensin II in cardiomyopathy; Cell signaling systems (Ca2+, cyclic nucleotides, inositol system, protein kinases) after irradiation in low doses; Role of 5-lipoxygenase activity in lymphocytes of rat spleen after irradiation.

Publications

Yuzefovych LV, Pastukh VM, Mulekar MS, Ledbetter K, Richards WO, Rachek LI. Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Plasma Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA, Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Changes in Obese Patients. Biomedicines. 2023 Sep 12;11(9):2514. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11092514. PMID: 37760955; PMCID: PMC10526219.

Lee JY, Stevens RP, Pastukh VV, Pastukh VM, Kozhukhar N, Alexeyev MF, Reisz JA, Nerguizian D, D'Alessandro A, Koloteva A, Gwin MS, Roberts JT, Borchert GM, Wagener BM, Pittet JF, Graham BB, Stenmark KR, Stevens T. PFKFB3 Inhibits Fructose Metabolism in Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2023 Sep;69(3):340-354. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2022-0443OC. PMID: 37201952; PMCID: PMC10503305.

Daly GT, Pastukh VM, Tan YB, Francis CM, Aggen CZ, Groark SC, Edwards C, Mulekar MS, Hamo M, Simmons JD, Kutcher ME, Hartsell EM, Dinwiddie DL, Turpin ZM, Bass HW, Roberts JT, Gillespie MN, Langley RJ. Novel attributes of cell-free plasma mitochondrial DNA in traumatic injury. Clin Transl Med. 2022 Oct;12(10):e1055. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.1055. PMID: 36245326; PMCID: PMC9574491.

Yuzefovych LV, Pastukh VM, Ruchko MV, Simmons JD, Richards WO, Rachek LI. Plasma mitochondrial DNA is elevated in obese type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and correlates positively with insulin resistance. PLoS One. 2019 Oct 10;14(10):e0222278. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222278. PMID: 31600210; PMCID: PMC6786592.

Tan YB, Pastukh VM, Gorodnya OM, Mulekar MS, Simmons JD, Machuca TN, Beaver TM, Wilson GL, Gillespie MN. Enhanced Mitochondrial DNA Repair Resuscitates Transplantable Lungs Donated After Circulatory Death. J Surg Res. 2020 Jan;245:273-280. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2019.07.057. Epub 2019 Aug 14. PMID: 31421373; PMCID: PMC6900440.

Tan YB, Rieske RR, Audia JP, Pastukh VM, Capley GC, Gillespie MN, Smith AA, Tatum DM, Duchesne JC, Kutcher ME, Kerby JD, Simmons JD. Plasma Transfusion Products and Contamination with Cellular and Associated Pro-Inflammatory Debris. J Am Coll Surg. 2019 Sep;229(3):252-258. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2019.04.017. Epub 2019 Apr 25. PMID: 31029763; PMCID: PMC7682807.