Werner Geldenhuys, PhD, MS

Research Interests

My group focuses on the identification and development of novel therapeutics which can slow down the disease progression of Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, we focus on the mitochondrial protein mitoNEET. MitoNEET is a drug target for neurodegeneration. We use both small organic compounds and peptides drugs in our group. Additionally we use nanoparticles to deliver compounds and proteins to the brain to bypass the blood-brain barrier.

Research Topics

• Parkinson's disease
• Stroke
• Alzheimer's disease
• Drug discovery
• Mitochondrial dysfunction
• Neurodegeneration

Publications

[2017]

• Geldenhuys WJ, Benkovic SA, Lin L, Yonutas HM, Crish SD, Sullivan PG, Darvesh AS, Brown CM, Richardson JR. (2017) MitoNEET (CISD1) Knockout Mice Show Signs of Striatal Mitochondrial Dysfunction and a Parkinson's Disease Phenotype. ACS Chem Neurosci [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00287
• Tok F, Kocyigit-Kaymakcioglu B, Tabanca N, Estep AS, Gross AD, Geldenhuys WJ, Becnel JJ, Bloomquist JR. Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of carbohydrazides and 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives bearing imidazolidine moiety against the yellow fever and dengue vector, Aedes aegypti. Pest Manag Sci [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1002/ps.4722
• Geldenhuys WJ, Khayat MT, Yun J, Nayeem MA. (2017) Drug Delivery and Nanoformulations for the Cardiovascular System. Res Rev Drug Deliv, 1(1):32-40. PMCID: PMC5507069
• Geldenhuys WJ, Hanif A, Yun J, Nayeem MA. (2017) Exploring Adenosine Receptor Ligands: Potential Role in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases.Molecules, 22(6). pii: E917. PMCID: PMC5568125 [available on 2018-06-01]
• Patel SP, Cox DH, Gollihue JL, Bailey WM, Geldenhuys WJ, Gensel JC, Sullivan PG, Rabchevsky AG. (2017) Pioglitazone treatment following spinal cord injury maintains acute mitochondrial integrity and increases chronic tissue sparing and functional recovery. Exp Neurol, 293:74-82. PMCID: PMC5473659 [available on 2018-07-01]
• Geldenhuys WJ, Bergeron SA, Mullins JE, Aljammal R, Gaasch BL, Chen WC, Yun J, Hazlehurst LA. (2017) High-content screen using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos identifies a novel kinase activator and inhibitor. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 27(9):2029-37. PMCID: PMC5435482 [available on 2018-05-01]
• Geldenhuys WJ, Caporoso J, Leeper TC, Lee YK, Lin L, Darvesh AS, Sadana P. (2017) Structure-activity and in vivo evaluation of a novel lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activator. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 27(2):303-308. PMCID: PMC5366985 [available on 2018-01-15]
• Venishetty VK, Geldenhuys WJ, Terell-Hall TB, Griffith JIG, Sondag GR, Safadi FF, Lockman PR. (2017) Identification of Novel Agents for the Treatment of Brain Metastases of Breast Cancer. Curr Cancer Drug Targets, 17(5):479-85. PMCID: PMC5438904 [available on 2018-01-01]
• Geldenhuys WJ, Lin L, Darvesh AS, Sadana P. (2017) Emerging strategies of targeting lipoprotein lipase for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Drug Discov Today, 22(2): 352-65. PMCID: PMC5482225 [available on 2018-02-01]

[2016]

• Geldenhuys WJ, Yonutas HM, Morris DL, Sullivan PG, Darvesh AS, Leeper TC. (2016) Identification of small molecules that bind to the mitochondrial protein mitoNEET. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 26(21):5350-5353. PMCID: PMC5482219
• Sondag GR, Mbimba TS, Moussa FM, Novak K, Yu B, Jaber FA, Abdelmagid SM, Geldenhuys WJ, Safadi FF. (2016) Osteoactivin inhibition of osteoclastogenesis is mediated through CD44-ERK signaling.Exp Mol Med, 48(9): e257. PMCID: PMC5050297
• Kusminski CM, Chen S, Ye R, Sun K, Wang QA, Spurgin SB, Sanders PE, Brozinick JT, Geldenhuys WJ, Li WH, Unger RH, Scherer PE.(2016) MitoNEET-Parkin Effects in Pancreatic α- and β-Cells, Cellular Survival, and Intrainsular Cross Talk. Diabetes, 65(6): 1534-55. PMCID: PMC5310214
• Young LM, Geldenhuys WJ, Domingo OC, Malan SF, Van der Schyf CJ. Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Pentacycloundecylamines and Triquinylamines as Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel Blockers. Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 2016 Feb 19. doi: 10.1002/ardp.201500293. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26892182.

[2015]

• Geldenhuys WJ, Guseman TL, Pienaar IS, Dluzen DE, Young JW. A novelbiomechanical analysis of gait changes in the MPTP mouse model of Parkinson's disease. PeerJ. 2015 Aug 11;3:e1175. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1175. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26339553; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4558067.
• Geldenhuys WJ, Mohammad AS, Adkins CE, Lockman PR. Molecular determinants of blood-brain barrier permeation. Ther Deliv. 2015;6(8):961-71. doi: 10.4155/tde.15.32. Epub 2015 Aug 25. PubMed PMID: 26305616; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4675962.
• Geldenhuys WJ, Darvesh AS. Pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer's disease: current and future trends. Expert Rev Neurother. 2015 Jan;15(1):3-5. doi: 10.1586/14737175.2015.990884. Epub 2014 Dec 8. Review. PubMed PMID: 25481975.
• Geldenhuys WJ, Kochi A, Lin L, Sutariya V, Dluzen DE, Van der Schyf CJ, Lim MH. Methyl Yellow: A Potential Drug Scaffold for Parkinson's Disease. Chembiochem. 2014 Jul 8. doi: 10.1002/cbic.201300770. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25045125.
• Geldenhuys WJ, Abdelmagid SM, Gallegos PJ, Safadi FF. Parkinson's disease biomarker: a patent evaluation of WO2013153386. Expert Opin Ther Pat. 2014 Aug;24(8):947-51. doi: 10.1517/13543776.2014.931375. Epub 2014 Jun 25. PubMed PMID: 24962176.
• Kumar V, Weng YC,  Geldenhuys WJ, Wang D, Han X, Messing RO, Chou WH. Generation and characterization of ATP analog-specific protein kinase C&delta. J Biol Chem. 2015 Jan 23;290(4):1936-51. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M114.598698. Epub 2014 Dec 10.PubMed PMID: 25505183; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4303651.

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