Zissimos Mourelatos, MD
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Contact InformationDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Division of Neuropathology
613B Stellar Chance Labs
422 Curie Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6100
Office: 215-746-0014
Fax: 215-746-0285
Email: mourelaz@uphs.upenn.edu
Specialty Division
Neuropathology, Cancer and Immunobiology
Research Expertise
Biochemical and genetic studies of Ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) with emphasis on
small regulatory RNPs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and piRNAs (Piwi-associated RNAs).
Biochemical and genetic studies of mRNA translation and mRNA decay.
Biochemical and genetic studies of RNA dysregulation in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration.
Clinical Expertise
Neuropathology
Surgical Neuropathology (Brain tumors; Brain biopsies; Muscle biopsies; Nerve biopsies)
Medical Neuropathology
Other Expertise
Director, Division of Neuropathology
Fellowship Director, Neuropathology
Itmat Expertise
Biochemical and genetic studies of Ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) with emphasis on
small regulatory RNPs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and piRNAs (Piwi-associated RNAs).
Biochemical and genetic studies of mRNA translation and mRNA decay.
Biochemical and genetic studies of RNA dysregulation in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration.
Graduate Groups
Cell and Molecular Biology
Education
M.D. Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki - School of Medicine, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1991
Specialty Certification
American Board of Pathology (Board Certified in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology), 1999
Postgraduate Training
Clinical Student Fellowship, A.U.TH, A' Neurology Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece., 1988-1989
Research Student Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 1989-1989
ERASMUS-E.C.T.S. Clinical Student Scholarship: , Universite Libre de Bruxelles, School of Medicine, Brussels, Belgium, 1990-1990
Resident in Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1995-1997
Fellow in Neuropathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1997-1999
Awards and Honors
ERASMUS Scholar (The "ERASMUS-European Credit Transfer System" program is sponsored by the Educational Council of the European Union), 1990
Michael S. Brown New Investigator Research Award, 2006
Elected Member of the American Association of University Pathologists “Pluto Society”, 2012-current
Memberships and Professional Organizations
Wellcome Trust, London, UK, 2004 - Present
American Association for the Advancement in Science, 2004 - Present
NIH - CSR - Numerous study sections, 2005 - Present
European Research Council (ERC), 2005 - Present
Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development, The Netherlands, 2005 - Present
Austrian Science Fund, Vienna, Austria, 2009 - Present
Swedish Research Council, 2009 - Present
Israel Science Foundation, 2011 - Present
American Association of Neuropathologists, 2011 - Present
Hellenic Ministry of Education Research Council, Athens, Greece, 2011 - Present
NSF, 2011 - present
Agence Nationale de la Recerche, France (ANR), 2012 - Present
MGB Study Section CSR/NIH, 2013 - 2017
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), 2016 - Present
MGB Study Section CSR/NIH, 2017 - 2019
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Germany, 2017 - present
Web Links
Selected Publications
Evaluating the role of the FUS/TLS-related gene EWSR1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Couthouis J., Hart M.P., Erion R., King O.D., Diaz Z., Nakaya T., Ibrahim F., Kim H.J., Mojsilovic-Petrovic J., Panossian S., Kim C.E., Frackelton E.C., Solski J.A., Williams K.L., Clay-Falcone D., Elman L., McCluskey L., Greene R., Hakonarson H., Kalb R.G., Lee V-MY, Trojanowski J.Q., Nicholson G.A., Blair I.P., Bonini N.M., Van Deerlin V.M., Mourelatos Z. ,Shorter J and A.D. Gitler, Human Molecular Genetics 21(): 2899-911, 2012, PMID:22454397
Precursor MicroRNA-Programmed Silencing Complex Assembly Pathways in Mammals
Liu X., Jin D-Y, McManus M.T. and Z. Mourelatos, Molecular Cell 46(): 507-17, 2012, PMID:22503104
Target RNA repertoire of Mili and Miwi reveals piRNA biogenesis and function of Miwi in spermiogenesis
Vourekas, A, Zheng Q., Kirino Y., Alexiou P., Maragkakis, M., Gregory B.D. and Z. Mourelatos, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 19(): 773-81, 2012
Asymmetric bilateral demyelinating optic neuropathy from tacrolimus toxicity
Venneti S, Moss HE, Levin MH, Vagefi MR, Brozena CS, Pruitt AA, Mourelatos Z, Trojanowski JQ, Galetta SL, Balcer LJ, Journal of the Neurological Sciences 301(1-2): 112-5, 2011, PMID:21112060
A yeast functional screen predicts new candidate ALS disease genes.
Couthouis J., Erion R., Hart M.P., Oristano R.E., Liu X.A., Ramos D., Jethava N., Hosangadi D., Epstein J., Chiang A., Diaz Z., Nakaya T., Ibrahim F., King O.D., , Kim H.J., Panossian S., Kim C.E., Frackelton E.C., Geser F., Clay-Falcone D., Elman L., McCluskey L., Greene R., Lee V-MY, Trojanowski J.Q., Hakonarson H., Bonini N.M., Shorter J., Van Deerlin V.M., Mourelatos Z. and A.D. Gitler, PNAS 108(): 20881-90, 2011, PMID:22065782
MiRNA-9 and MiRNA-200a distinguish hemangioblastomas from metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinomas in the CNS.
Venneti S., Boateng L.A., Friedman J.R, Baldwin D.A., Tobias J.W., Judkins A.R., Mourelatos Z. and L. Priti., Brain Pathology 22(4): 522-9, 2012
Immunoprecipitation of piRNPs and directional, next generation sequencing of piRNAs
Kirino Y, Vourekas A, Khandros E, Mourelatos Z, Methods Molecular Biology 725(): 281-93, 2011, PMID:21528460
Rapid in situ codetection of noncoding RNAs and proteins in cells and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections without protease treatment
de Planell-Saguer M, Rodicio MC, Mourelatos Z, Nature Protocols 5(6): 1061-73, 2010, PMID:20539282
Arginine methylation of vasa protein is conserved across phyla
Kirino Y, Vourekas A, Kim N, de Lima Alves F, Rappsilber J, Klein PS, Jongens TA, Mourelatos Z, J Biol Chem 285(11): 8148-54, 2010, PMID:20080973
Arginine methylation of Aubergine mediates Tudor binding and germ plasm localization
Kirino A, Vourekas A, Sayed N, de Lima Alves F, Thomson T, Lasko P, Rappsilber J, Jongens TA, and Mourelatos Z, RNA 16(1): 70-8, 2010, PMID:19926723
