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Thorsten Maretzky, PhD

Contact Information

Office: 527 EMRB
Phone: 335-4218
Faculty Profile

Brief description of current research: 

Dr. Maretzky is an Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine whose laboratory’s long-term goal is to understand how fundamental functions of metalloproteases are dysregulated during inflammatory processes, with an emphasis on obesity-induced low-grade inflammation and associated metabolic syndrome. He has focused on the function of a group of metalloproteases termed ADAMs in several in vivo disease models. He recently discovered a catalytically inactive member of the rhomboid protease family, iRhom2, as key regulator of ADAM17-mediated TNF production from myeloid cells in response to complement activation. His laboratory is currently investigating how iRhom2 dysfunction elicits insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation during obesity. In this regard, he discovered that loss of iRhom2 leads to accelerated adiposity and increased insulin resistance in high-fat diet-induced obesity despite a reduction in inflammatory markers in the adipose tissue.

3 most influential diabetes/obesity/metabolism publications:

  • Geesala R, Schanz W, Biggs M, Dixit G, Skurski J, Gurung P, Meyerholz DK, Elliott D, Issuree PD, Maretzky T. Loss of RHBDF2 results in an early-onset spontaneous murine colitis. J Leukoc Biol. 2019 Apr;105(4):767-781. doi: 10.1002/JLB.4A0718-283RR. Epub 2019 Jan 29. PMID: 30694569; PMCID: PMC6585405.
  • Geesala R, Issuree PD, Maretzky T. The Role of iRhom2 in Metabolic and Cardiovascular-Related Disorders. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2020 Nov 24;7:612808. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2020.612808. PMID: 33330676; PMCID: PMC7732453.
  • Skurski J, Dixit G, Blobel CP, Issuree PD, Maretzky T. The Threshold Effect: Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Primary Macrophages Are Differentially Regulated in an iRhom2-Dependent Manner. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 Jan 29;10:620392. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.620392. PMID: 33585287; PMCID: PMC7878383.

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