Nicolas Musi, MD

Professor of Medicine

Education

Year	Degree	Discipline	Institution
1995	MD	Medicine (Magna Cum Laude)	Universidad Anahuac Mexico City , Mexico
1996	Internship	Internal Medicine	University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center Miami , FL
1998	Residency	Internal Medicine	University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center Miami , FL
2001	Postdoctoral Fellowship	Endocrinology and Metabolism	Joslin Diabetes Center-Beth Israel Deaconnes Med Ct and Harvard Medical School Boston , MA

Research

My research expertise is in aging, insulin resistance and exercise physiology. My research program in metabolic/endocrine gerontology, is devoted to exploring the effects that aging has on numerous metabolic and cellular processes, and relevant to the patho-genesis of age-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and sarcopenia. My main clinical interests are (i) pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of diabetes in the elderly; (ii) molecular mechanisms underlying sarcopenia of aging; and (iii) effects of exercise on glucose and lipid metabolism at the whole-body and cellular levels. We conduct our research in human subjects, rodents, and cell cultures. Exercise Physiology – We are interested in elucidating the molecular mechanism by which contractile activity and exercise improve physical performance and whole-body metabolism in the context of aging and diabetes. Ongoing studies are examining the role of the AMPK-PGC1 and the TLR4-NFkB pathways on the adaptations to exercise training. Insulin Resistance – We aim to understand the molecular biology of insulin action in insulin resistant conditions. Techniques include: – Glucose kinetic studies in human subjects using the insulin clamp technique – Muscle biopsies in humans under hyperinsulinemic conditions and after exercise – Insulin sensitivity in rodents using the clamp technique and isolated muscle preparation – Primary human muscle cultures and co-cultures with adipocytes and inflammatory cells (monocytes, etc). – Methods for signaling studies include real-time PCR, kinase activity assays, Western blotting, siRNA, EMSA – Assays of mitochondrial function, including ATP production, oxygen consumption, membrane potential, and ROS generation. Metabolism, Diabetes, Aging – We aim to delineate the effect of normal aging on the molecular pathways that control metabolism. Also, we work to elucidate the molecular alterations that increase the risk of metabolic disorders and disability relevant to aging, including diabetes, obesity and sarcopenia. We perform our research utilizing cell cultures and animal (rodent) models, and also conduct investigations in human subjects.

Publications

1.	Wilfred, S. A., Becker, C. B., Kanzler, K. E., Musi, N., Espinoza, S. E., & Kilpela, L. S. (2021). Binge eating among older women: prevalence rates and health correlates across three independent samples. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9(1), [132]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00484-8
2.	Saccon, T. D., Schneider, A., Marinho, C. G., Nunes, A. D. C., Noureddine, S., Dhahbi, J., Nunez Lopez, Y. O., LeMunyan, G., Salvatori, R., Oliveira, C. R. P., Oliveira-Santos, A. A., Musi, N., Bartke, A., Aguiar-Oliveira, M. H., & Masternak, M. M. (2021). Circulating microRNA profile in humans and mice with congenital GH deficiency. Aging cell, 20(7), [e13420]. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13420
3.	Verdoorn, B. P., Evans, T. K., Hanson, G. J., Zhu, Y., Langhi Prata, L. G. P., Pignolo, R. J., Atkinson, E. J., Wissler-Gerdes, E. O., Kuchel, G. A., Mannick, J. B., Kritchevsky, S. B., Khosla, S., Rizza, S. A., Walston, J. D., Musi, N., Lipsitz, L. A., Kiel, D. P., Yung, R., LeBrasseur, N. K., ... Kirkland, J. L. (2021). Fisetin for COVID-19 in skilled nursing facilities: Senolytic trials in the COVID era. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(11), 3023-3033. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17416
4.	Espinoza, S. E., Lee, J. L., Wang, C. P., Ganapathy, V., MacCarthy, D., Pascucci, C., Musi, N., & Volpi, E. (2021). Intranasal Oxytocin Improves Lean Muscle Mass and Lowers LDL Cholesterol in Older Adults with Sarcopenic Obesity: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 22(9), 1877-1882.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2021.04.015
5.	George, S. M., Chen, H., Miller, M. E., Rejeski, W. J., Stowe, C. L., Webb, C., Kraus, W. E., Musi, N., & Jakicic, J. M. (2021). Rapid report on using data to make standardized decisions about enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from the MoTrPAC study. Annals of epidemiology, 62, 19-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2021.04.016
6.	Salmon, A. B., Nelson, J. F., Gelfond, J. A. L., Javors, M., Ginsburg, B., Lopez-Cruzan, M., Galvan, V., Fernandez, E., Musi, N., Ikeno, Y., Hubbard, G., Lechleiter, J., Hornsby, P. J., & Strong, R. (2021). San Antonio Nathan Shock Center: your one-stop shop for aging research. GeroScience, 43(5), 2105-2118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00417-y
7.	Gonzales, M. M., Garbarino, V. R., Zilli, E. M., Petersen, R. C., Kirkland, J. L., Tchkonia, T., Musi, N., Seshadri, S., Craft, S., & Orr, M. E. (Accepted/In press). Senolytic Therapy to Modulate the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (SToMP-AD): A Pilot Clinical Trial. The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease. https://doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2021.62
8.	Sachs, B. C., Rapp, S. R., Kistler, C. E., Musi, N., Supiano, M. A., Pajewski, N. M., Callahan, K. E., Alexander, K. P., Shah, R. C., Snyder, H. M., Carrillo, M. C., Espinoza, S., & Williamson, J. D. (2021). The PRagmatic EValuation of evENTs And Benefits of Lipid-lowering in oldEr adults (PREVENTABLE) trial: Study design and procedures for cognitive assessment and adjudication. Alzheimer's and Dementia, 17(S9), [e054022]. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.054022
9.	Dodds, S. G., Parihar, M., Javors, M., Nie, J., Musi, N., Dave Sharp, Z., & Hasty, P. (2020). Acarbose improved survival for Apc+/Min mice. Aging cell, 19(2), [e13088]. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13088
10.	Palavicini, J. P., Chen, J., Wang, C., Wang, J., Qin, C., Baeuerle, E., Wang, X., Woo, J. A., Kang, D. E., Musi, N., Dupree, J. L., & Han, X. (2020). Early disruption of nerve mitochondrial and myelin lipid homeostasis in obesity-induced diabetes. JCI Insight, 5(21), [e137286]. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.137286
11.	Valentine, J. M., Li, M. E., Shoelson, S. E., Zhang, N., Reddick, R. L., & Musi, N. (2020). NFκB regulates muscle development and mitochondrial function. Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 75(4), 647-653. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/gly262
12.	Strong, R., Miller, R. A., Bogue, M., Fernandez, E., Javors, M. A., Libert, S., Marinez, P. A., Murphy, M. P., Musi, N., Nelson, J. F., Petrascheck, M., Reifsnyder, P., Richardson, A., Salmon, A. B., Macchiarini, F., & Harrison, D. E. (2020). Rapamycin-mediated mouse lifespan extension: Late-life dosage regimes with sex-specific effects. Aging cell, 19(11), [e13269]. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13269
13.	Espinoza, S. E., Musi, N., Wang, C. PIN., Michalek, J., Orsak, B., Romo, T., Powers, B., Conde, A., Moris, M., Bair-Kelps, D., Li, Y., Ganapathy, V., Jergensen, T. E., Kelly, L. C., & Jiwani, R. (2020). Rationale and study design of a randomized clinical trial of metformin to prevent frailty in older adults with prediabetes. Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 75(1), 102-109. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glz078
14.	Song, C., Zhang, J., Qi, S., Liu, Z., Zhang, X., Zheng, Y., Andersen, J. P., Zhang, W., Strong, R., Martinez, P. A., Musi, N., Nie, J., & Shi, Y. (2019). Cardiolipin remodeling by ALCAT1 links mitochondrial dysfunction to Parkinson’s diseases. Aging cell, 18(3), [e12941]. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12941
15.	Patel, D. I., Abuchowski, K., Sheikh, B., Rivas, P., Musi, N., & Kumar, A. P. (2019). Exercise preserves muscle mass and force in a prostate cancer mouse model. European Journal of Translational Myology, 29(4), 328-333. https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2019.8520
16.	Hurria, A., Carpenter, C. R., McFarland, F., Lundebjerg, N. E., de Cabo, R., Ferrucci, L., Studenski, S. A., Barzilai, N., Briggs, J. P., Ix, J. H., Kitzman, D. W., Kuchel, G. A., Musi, N., Newman, J. C., Rando, T. A., Smith, A. K., Walston, J. D., Kirkland, J. L., & Yung, R. (2019). Models and Studies of Aging: Executive Summary of a Report from the U13 Conference Series. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(3), 428-433. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.15788
17.	Patel, D. I., Wallace, D., Abuchowski, K., Rivas, P., Gallegos, A., Musi, N., & Kumar, A. P. (2019). Nexrutine® preserves muscle mass similar to exercise in prostate cancer mouse model. Physiological Reports, 7(16), [e14217]. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14217
18.	Patel, D. I., Abuchowski, K., Bedolla, R., Rivas, P., Musi, N., Reddick, R., & Kumar, A. P. (2019). Nexrutine and exercise similarly prevent high grade prostate tumors in transgenic mouse model. PloS one, 14(12), [e0226187]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226187
19.	Justice, J. N., Nambiar, A. M., Tchkonia, T., LeBrasseur, N. K., Pascual, R., Hashmi, S. K., Prata, L., Masternak, M. M., Kritchevsky, S. B., Musi, N., & Kirkland, J. L. (2019). Senolytics in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Results from a first-in-human, open-label, pilot study. EBioMedicine, 40, 554-563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.12.052
20.	Liang, H., Lum, H., Alvarez, A., Garduno-Garcia, J. D. J., Daniel, B. J., & Musi, N. (2018). A low dose lipid infusion is sufficient to induce insulin resistance and a pro-inflammatory response in human subjects. PloS one, 13(4), [e0195810]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195810
21.	Kraig, E., Linehan, L. A., Liang, H., Romo, T. Q., Liu, Q., Wu, Y., Benavides, A. D., Curiel, T. J., Javors, M. A., Musi, N., Chiodo, L., Koek, W., Gelfond, J. A. L., & Kellogg, D. L. (2018). A randomized control trial to establish the feasibility and safety of rapamycin treatment in an older human cohort: Immunological, physical performance, and cognitive effects. Experimental Gerontology, 105, 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2017.12.026
22.	Chen, H., Shen, F., Sherban, A., Nocon, A., Li, Y., Wang, H., Xu, M. J., Rui, X., Han, J., Jiang, B., Lee, D., Li, N., Keyhani-Nejad, F., Fan, J. G., Liu, F., Kamat, A., Musi, N., Guarente, L., Pacher, P., ... Zang, M. (2018). DEP domain–containing mTOR–interacting protein suppresses lipogenesis and ameliorates hepatic steatosis and acute-on-chronic liver injury in alcoholic liver disease. Hepatology, 68(2), 496-514. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.29849
23.	Blanco, C., Gastaldelli, A., Anzueto, D. G., Winter, L. A., Seidner, S. R., Mccurnin, D. C., Liang, H., Javors, M. A., DeFronzo, R. A., & Musi, N. (2018). Effects of intravenous AICAR (5- aminoimidazole-4-carboximide riboside) administration on insulin signaling and resistance in premature baboons, Papio sp. PloS one, 13(12), [e0208757]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208757
24.	De Jesús Garduno-Garcia, J., Gastaldelli, A., Defronzo, R. A., Lertwattanarak, R., Holst, J. J., & Musi, N. (2018). Older subjects with β -cell dysfunction have an accentuated incretin release. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 103(7), 2613-2619. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2018-00260
25.	Nie, J., Sun, C., Chang, Z., Musi, N., & Shi, Y. (2018). SAD-A promotes glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through phosphorylation and inhibition of GDIα in male islet β cells. Endocrinology, 159(8), 3036-3047. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2017-03243
26.	Qin, K., Zhang, N., Zhang, Z., Nipper, M., Zhu, Z., Leighton, J., Xu, K., Musi, N., & Wang, P. (2018). SIRT6-mediated transcriptional suppression of Txnip is critical for pancreatic beta cell function and survival in mice. Diabetologia, 61(4), 906-918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-017-4542-6
27.	Musi, N., Valentine, J. M., Sickora, K. R., Baeuerle, E., Thompson, C. S., Shen, Q., & Orr, M. E. (2018). Tau protein aggregation is associated with cellular senescence in the brain. Aging cell, 17(6), [e12840]. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12840
28.	McGill-Vargas, L., Gastaldelli, A., Liang, H., Guerra, D. A., Johnson-Pais, T., Seidner, S., McCurnin, D., Muscogiuri, G., DeFronzo, R., Musi, N., & Blanco, C. (2017). Hepatic insulin resistance and altered gluconeogenic pathway in premature baboons. Endocrinology, 158(5), 1140-1151. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2016-1806
29.	Thakur, S., Garg, N., Zhang, N., Hussey, S. E., Musi, N., & Adamo, M. L. (2017). IGF-1 receptor haploinsufficiency leads to age-dependent development of metabolic syndrome. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 486(4), 937-944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.03.129
30.	Zhang, N., Valentine, J. M., Zhou, Y., Li, M. E., Zhang, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Walsh, M. E., Fischer, K. E., Austad, S. N., Osmulski, P., Gaczynska, M., Shoelson, S. E., Van Remmen, H., Chen, H. I., Chen, Y., Liang, H., & Musi, N. (2017). Sustained NFκB inhibition improves insulin sensitivity but is detrimental to muscle health. Aging cell, 16(4), 847-858. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12613

https://scholars.uthscsa.edu/en/persons/nicolas-musi