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Faculty Detail Faculty Entry   
Name JOHN J SHACKA  
Campus Address SC 930G Zip 0017
Phone 205-996-7252
E-mail shacka@uab.edu" id="FacultyDetail1EmailAddress"><a href="mailto:shacka@uab.edu">shacka@uab.edu</a>
URL
 
 

Department Affiliations(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  Center for Aging  Center for Aging Assistant Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Assistant Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Assistant Professor
Center  Neurology   Neuro-Oncology Center Assistant Professor
Primary  Pathology   Clinical Pathology Assistant Professor
Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Assistant Professor

Biographical Sketch 
John Shacka received B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from Virginia Tech in 1991 and in 1997 received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. From 1998 to 2000 John was a PRAT fellow at NCI/NIH in the laboratory of Anita Roberts and from 2000-2004 received further postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Joe Beckman(Anesthesiology), Alvaro Estevez (Physiology and Biophysics) and Kevin Roth (Pathology). Currently he is Assistant Professor in the Neuropathology Division. The Shacka Lab studies the therapeutic potential for molecular targets in the autophagy-lysosome pathway to promote the clearance of toxic proteins that accumulate in experimental models of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
Alpha Chi Sigma Professional Chemistry Fraternity  Member  http://www.alphachisigma.org 
The Histochemical Society  Member  http://www.histochemicalsociety.org 
The Society for Neuroscience  Member  http://www.sfn.org 
 

Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Targeting the Autophagy-Lysosome Pathway for Therapeutic in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease
Description
The autophagy lysosome pathway (ALP) shuttles long-lived and/or damaged proteins and organelles to lysosomes for enzymatic degradation and recycling. The ALP thus provides energy to the cell and maintains intracellular quality control. Although the ALP is ordinarily a cell survival pathway, its function decreases with normal brain aging and in neurodegenerative diseases, and may be associated with the aberrant accumulation of toxic proteins that are pathogenic to both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The Shacka Lab uses a combined in vitro (cell culture, genetic and biochemical assays) and in vivo (experimental animal models) approach to identify and validate candidate molecular targets for their ability to enhance the clearance of proteins that contribute to AD and PD pathogenesis. We hope that these pre-clinical investigations focused on ALP-specific molecules will elucidate rational therapeutic strategies that will ultimately delay the onset and progression of AD and PD.

Postdoc Positions Available
Date Posted Position Title
No records
 

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Suswam, E, Shacka, JJ, Walker, K, Lu, L, Li, X, Si, Y, Zhang, X, Cao, H and King, PH. Mutant Tristetraprolin: a Potent Inhibitor of Malignant Glioma Cell growth. J. Neurooncol. 2013, in press.  23525947 
Yan J, Bansal A, Sabbaj S, Shacka JJ, Goepfert PA, and Heath SL. HIV specific CD8+ T cells from Elite Controllers are Primed for Survival. J Virol, 2013: 87 (9): 1-14.  23449791 
Gurpinar E, Grizzle WE, Shacka JJ, Mader BJ, Li N, Piazza NA, Russo S, Keeton AB, and Piazza GA. A novel sulindac derivative inhibits lung adenocarcinoma cell growth through suppression of Akt/mTOR signaling and induction of autophagy. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 2013 in press.  23443799 
Mader, BJ, Pivtoraiko, VN, Flippo, HM, Klocke, BJ, Roth, KA, Mangieri, LR and Shacka, JJ. Rotenone Inhibits Autophagic Flux Prior to Inducing Cell Death. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 3:1063-1072, 2012.  23259041 
Klionsky DJ, Abdalla FC, Abeliovich H, Abraham RT, Acevedo-Arozena A, Adeli K …Shacka, JJ, …Zuckerbraun B (approximately 1270 authors). Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy. Autophagy, 8:445-544, 2012.   22966490 
Shacka, JJ. Mouse Models of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses: Useful Pre-Clinical Tools to Delineate Disease Pathophysiology and Validate Therapeutics. Brain Research Bulletin. 2012 in press.  22502604 
Hoffman WH, Shacka JJ, and Andjelkovic, AV. Autophagy in the brains of young patients with poorly controlled T1DM and fatal diabetic ketoacidosis. Experimental and Molecular Pathology 93:273-280, 2011.  22079479 
Pivtoraiko, VN, Harrington, AJ, Luker, AM, Caldwell, GA, Caldwell, KA, Roth, KA, and Shacka, JJ. Low-dose Bafilomycin Attenuates Neuronal Cell Death Associated with Autophagy-Lysosome Pathway Dysfunction. Journal of Neurochemistry 114:1193-204, 2010.  20534000 
Walls, KC, Ghosh, AP, Franklin, AL, Klocke, BJ, Ballestas, M, Shacka, JJ, Zhang, J, and Roth, KA. Lysosome dysfunction triggers Atg7-dependent neural apoptosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285:10497-507, 2010.  20123985 
Yang Q, She H, Gearing M, Colla E, Lee M, Shacka JJ, Mao Z. Regulation of neuronal survival factor MEF2D by chaperone-mediated autophagy. Science 323:124-7, 2009.  19119233 
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Keywords
Autophagy; Lysosome; Apoptosis; Parkinson's; Alzheimer's;

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