Jon Sin

Jon Sin

Assistant Professor

Education

  • PhD, Cell and Molecular Biology, San Diego State University/ University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program 2013
  • BS, General Biology, University of California, San Diego, 2007

Research Interests

I am a virologist studying host-pathogen interactions in the heart and pancreas. My primary goal is to identify potential therapeutic targets that can translate to the development of antivirals that could combat both acute and chronic viral diseases. Though I study a variety of human viruses, my current work focuses on coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), a common juvenile pathogen, which is known to cause systemic inflammatory diseases such as myocarditis and pancreatitis. We have reported that CVB3 exploits host mitochondria in a variety of ways to support viral replication, disrupt antiviral immunity and promote viral egress. Our findings have helped us identify a number of potential therapies including menthol. This common, affordable cooling compound limits proviral mitochondrial fission processes and has shown immense promise in suppressing CVB3 infection as well as limiting CVB3 pancreatitis and myocarditis. I have taught several undergraduate and graduate courses as well as trained a number of undergraduates, graduates and postdocs. Though I have worked at a medical center for a number of years, my goal was always to pursue a tenure-track faculty position which would allow me to further develop my research program as well as teach students both in the classroom and the lab.  

Selected Publications

  1. Taylor DJ, Germano JF, Song Y, Hadj-Moussa H, Marek Iannucci S, Dhanji R, Sin J, Czer LSC, Storey KB, Gottlieb RA. Hypothermia promotes mitochondrial elongation in cardiac cells via inhibition of Drp1. Cryobiology 2021. (In press)
  2. Rezaie A, Leite GG, Melmed GY, Mathur R, Villanueva-Millan MJ, Parodi G, Sin J, Germano JF, Morales W, Weitsman S, Kim SY, Park JH, Sakhaie S, Pimentel M. Ultraviolet a light effectively reduces bacteria and viruses including coronavirus. PLOS One 2020. 15(7):e0236199
  3. Germano JF, Huang C, Sin J, Song Y, Tucker KC, Taylor DJ, Saadaeijahromi H, Stotland A, Piplani H, Gottlieb RA, Mentzer RM, Andres AM. Intermittent Use of a Short-Course Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Therapy Limits Adverse Cardiac Remodeling via Parkin-dependent Mitochondrial Turnover. Scientific Reports 2020. 10(1):8284
  4. Taylor DJ, Hamid SM, Andres AM, Saadaeijahromi H, Piplani H, Germano JF, Song Y, Sawaged S, Feuer R, Pandol SJ, Sin J. Antiviral Effects of Menthol on Coxsackievirus B. Viruses 2020. 12(4):373
  5. Di Florio DN, Sin J, Coronado MJ, Atwal PS, Fairweather D. Sex differences in inflammation, redox biology, mitochondria and autoimmunity. Redox Biology 2020. 31:101482
  6. Piplani H, Iannucci SM, Sin J, Hou J, Takahashi T, Sharma A, Germano JF, Waldron RT, Saadaeijahromi H, Song Y, Gulla A, Wu B, Lugea A, Andres AM, Gaisano HY, Gottlieb RA, Pandol SJ. Simvastatin induces autophagic flux to restore cerulein-induced phagosome-lysosome fusion in acute pancreatitis. BBA-Molecular Basis of Disease 2019. 1865(11):165530
  7. Ramesh M, Campos JC, Lee P, Song Y, Hernandez G, Sin J, Tucker KC, Saadaeijahromi H, Gurney M, Ferreria JC, Andres AM. Mitophagy Protects Against Statin-Mediated Skeletal Muscle Toxicity. The FASEB Journal 2019. 33(11):11857-11869
  8. Marek-Iannucci S, Thomas A, Hou J, Crupi A, Sin J, Taylor DJ, Czer LS, Eslailian F, Mentzer RM, Andres AM, Gottlieb RA. Myocardial hypothermia increases autophagic flux, mitochondrial mass and myocardial function after ischemia-reperfusion injury. Scientific Reports 2019. 9:10001
  9. Onat UI, Yildirim AD, Tufanli Ö, Çimen I, Kocatürk B, Veli Z, Hamid SM, Shimada K, Chen S, Sin J, Shah PK, Gottlieb RA, Arditi M, Erbay E. Intercepting the lipid-induced integrated stress response reduces atherosclerosis. JACC 2019. 73(10): 1149-1169
  10. Germano JF, Sawaged S, Saadaeijahromi H, Andres AM, Feuer R, Gottlieb RA, Sin J. Coxsackievirus B infection induces the extracellular release of miR-590-5p, a proviral microRNA. Virology 2019. 529: 169-176
  11. Sin J, Matundan HH, Rivas MN, Fishbein M, Lehman T, Chen S, Gottlieb RA, Crother T, Abe M, Arditi M. Myocardial fibrosis after adrenergic stimulation as a long-term sequela in a mouse model of Kawasaki Disease vasculitis. JCI Insight 2019. 4(3): e12679
  12. Sin J, McIntyre L, Stotland A, Feuer R, Gottlieb RA. Coxsackievirus B Escapes the infected cell in ejected mitophagosomes. Journal of Virology 2017. 91(24): e01347-17
  13. Sin J, Andres AM, Taylor DJ, Weston T, Hiraumi Y, Stotland A, Kim BJ, Huang C, Doran KS, Gottlieb RA. Mitophagy is required for mitochondrial biogenesis and myogenic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts. Autophagy 2016. 12(2): 369-380
  14. Sin J, Mangale V, Thienphrapa W, Gottlieb RA, Feuer R. Recent Progress in Understanding Coxsackievirus Replication, Dissemination, and Pathogenesis.  Virology 2015.  484: 288-304
  15. Andres AM, Sin J, Taylor DJ, Gottlieb RA. Untangling Autophagy Measurements:  All Fluxed Up.  Circulation Research 2015.  116: 504-514
  16. Gurney MA, Huang C, Ramil JM, Ravindran N, Andres AM, Sin J, Linton PJ, Gottlieb RA. Measuring cardiac autophagic flux in vitro and in vivo. Methods in Molecular Biology 2015. 1219:187-97
  17. Andres AM, Hernandez G, Lee P, Huang C, Ratliff EP, Sin J, Thornton CA, Damasco MV, Gottlieb RA. Mitophagy is Required for Acute Cardioprotection by Simvastatin.  Antioxidants & Redox Signaling 2014.  21(14):1960-73
  18. Sin J, Puccini JM, Huang C, Konstandin MH, Gilbert P, Sussman MA, Gottlieb RA, Feuer R. The Impact of Juvenile Coxsackievirus Infection on Cardiac Progenitor Cells and Postnatal Heart Development.  PLOS Pathogens 2014.  10(7): e1004249
  19. Sin J, Robinson SM, Tsueng G, Mangale V, Rahawi S, McIntyre LL, Williams W, Kha N, Cruz C, Hancock BM, Nguyen DP, Sayen MR, Hilton BJ, Doran KS, Segall AM, Wolkowicz R, Cornell CT, Whitton JL, Gottlieb RA, Feuer R. Coxsackievirus B Exits the Host Cell in Shed Microvesicles Displaying Autophagosomal Markers.  PLOS Pathogens 2014.  10(4):  e1004045
  20. Hernandez G, Thornton C, Stotland A, Lui D, Sin J, Ramil J, Magee N, Andres A, Quarato G, Carreira RS, Sayen MR, Wolkowicz R, Gottlieb RA. MitoTimer:  a novel tool for monitoring mitochondrial turnover.  Autophagy 2013.  9(11):  1852-61