Eric Sikorski
Visiting Instructor
Contact
Office: BSF 167
Phone: 813/974-8746
Email:
Bio
I am a visiting instructor here at USF. Although not currently involved in research, I recently finished my post doctoral research in the summer of 2006 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham under the direction of Dr. Anupam Agarwal. My research, funded by the National Kidney Foundation, centered around the ability of cadmium, an important environmental toxin, to induce the expression of the human heme oxygenase-1 gene (HO-1) in human renal epithelial cells. HO-1 is a cytoprotective gene whose induction has been shown to be beneficial against several harmful stimuli (UV radiation, heavy metals, hypoxia and others) and diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. Specifically, my research centered on the DNA sequences and proteins used in HO-1 induction following exposure to cadmium. My results demonstrated a novel role for pescadillo , a nucleolar protein involved in ribosome biogenesis, DNA replication and proper embryo development, in binding to DNA and eliciting an up-regulation in HO-1 mRNA as well as HO-1 protein levels.
Currently, my teaching assignment includes Human Anatomy and Physiology (BSC 2093), including supervision of the lab, and the development of a potential new lab for the Department of Biology. Future assignments will include General Physiology and other departmental needs.
Education
PhD Florida State University 2000
Recent Publications
Sikorski EM, Uo T, Morrison RS, Agarwal A (2006) Pescadillo interacts
with the cadmium response element of the human heme oxygenase-1 promoter in renal
epithelial cells. J Biol Chem 281(34), 24423-24430.
Sikorski EM, Hock T, Hill-Kapturczak N, Agarwal A. (2004) The story
so far: molecular regulation of the heme oxygenase-1 gene in renal injury.
Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 286: F425-F441
Hill-Kapturczak N, Sikorski EM, Voakes C, Garcia J, Nick HS, Agarwal
A.(2003) An internal enhancer regulates heme and cadmium-mediated induction of human
heme oxygenase-1. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 285: F515-F523.
Eliassen, K., Baldwin, A., Sikorski, E. M. , and Hurt, M. M. (1998)
Role for a YY1-binding element in replication-dependent mouse histone gene expression.
Mol. Cell. Biol. 18(12) 7106-7118.
Kaludov, N. K., Bowman, T. L., Sikorski, E. M. , and Hurt, M. M.
(1996) Cell cycle regulated binding of nuclear proteins to elements within a mouse
H3.2 histone gene. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 93(9), 4465-4470.