svetlana [dot] komarova [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Email)
Dr. Komarova’s research program is aimed at understanding the regulation of osteoclasts, the cells responsible for bone destruction in diseases such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, periodontitis and bone metastases. Osteoclasts are highly active cells, present in bone only in small numbers. Moreover, osteoclasts are terminally differentiated, and therefore do not proliferate in culture. To understand the mechanisms that determine stimulus-specific gene expression in osteoclasts, Dr. Komarova’s laboratory employs high-speed imaging of live cells, quantitative gene expression analysis, as well as mathematical modeling. These studies will provide new insights into the control of bone resorption in health and disease, which may lead to the development of new therapies for treatment of inflammatory, metabolic and metastatic bone disorders. Dr. Komarova completed a M.Sc. degree in physics at the Moscow State University, Russia, and obtained a Ph.D. degree in biophysics in 1996 from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Pushchino, Russia. Before joining the Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Komarova completed postdoctoral training at NASA Ames Research Center, and in the CIHR Group in Skeletal Development and Remodeling, The University of Western Ontario.
PUBLICATIONS
Ryser MD, Nigam N, Komarova SV. (2009) Mathematical Modeling of Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of a Single Bone Multicellular Unit. J Bone Miner Res. 2009 24(5): 860-70.
Kasneci A, Kemeny-Suss NM, Komarova SV, Chalifour LE. (2009) Egr-1 negatively regulates calsequestrin expression and calcium dynamics in ventricular cells. Cardiovasc Res. 81(4):695-702. .
Le Nihouannen D, Komarova SV, Gbureck U, Barralet JE. (2008) Bioactivity of bone resorptive factor loaded on osteoconductive matrices: stability post-dehydration. Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 70(3):813-8.
Akchurin T, Aïssiou T., Prosk E., Kemeny N., Nigam N, Komarova S.V. (2008) Complex dynamics of osteoclast formation and death in long-term cultures. PLoS One 7;3(5): e2104. .
Le Nihouannen D., Hacking SA., Gbureck U., Komarova SV., Barralet JE.. (2008) Brushite cement as a release matrix for a key bone remodelling factor, RANKL. Biomaterials 29(22): 3253-9.
Guo, Y., Abou Khalil, J., Siegel, P.M., Komarova, S.V. (2008) Osteoclast precursors acquire sensitivity to breast cancer derived factors early in differentiation. Bone 43(2): 386-93.
Pereverzev A., Komarova S.V., Tremblay G.B., Dixon S.J., Sims S.M. (2008) Extracellular acidification enhances osteoclast survival through an nfat-independent, protein kinase c-dependent pathway. Bone, 008 42:150-161.
Jones, D.H., Sanchez, O.H., Nakashima, T., Kozieradzki, I., Komarova, S.V., Sarosi, I., Morony, S., Rubin, E., Sarao, R., Hojilla, C.V., Kong, Y.-Y., Dixon, S.J., Sims, S.M., Wada, T., Khokha, R. and Penninger, J.M. (2006) Chemotactic regulation of cancer cell migration and bone metastasis by RANKL. Nature, 440: 692-6.
Komarova SV. (2006) A moat around castle walls Med Hypotheses. 67(4):698-701.
Komarova SV, Pereverzev A, Shum JW, Sims SM, Dixon SJ (2005) Convergent signaling by acidosis and RANKL on the calcium/calcineurin/NFAT pathway in mammalian osteoclasts. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102: 2643-8 .
Komarova SV(2005) Mathematical model of paracrine interactions between osteoclasts and osteoblasts predicts anabolic effects of parathyroid hormone on bone. Endocrinology 146 (8): 3589-95. .
Richard S, Torabi N, Franco GV, Tremblay GA, Chen T, Vogel G, Morel M, Cleroux P, Forget-Richard A, Komarova S, Tremblay ML, Li W, Li A, Gao YJ, Henderson JE. (2005) Ablation of the Sam68 RNA Binding Protein Protects Mice from Age-Related Bone Loss. PLoS Genet. Dec 16;1(6):e74 .
Komarova SV, Pilkington MF, Weidema AF, Dixon SJ, Sims SM (2003) RANK-ligand induced elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ accelerates nuclear translocation of NFB in osteoclasts. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 8286-8293. .
Komarova SV, Smith RJ, Dixon SJ, Sims SM, Wahl LM (2003) Mathematical model predicts a critical role for osteoclast autocrine regulation in the control of bone remodeling. Bone, 33: 206-15.
Komarova SV, Shum JB, Paige LA, Sims SM, Dixon SJ (2003) Regulation of osteoclasts by calcitonin and by amphiphilic calcitonin conjugates: role of cytosolic Ca2+. Calcif Tissue Int. 73 (3): 265-273.
Komarova SV, Dixon SJ, Sims SM (2001) Osteoclast ion channels: potential targets for antiresorptive drugs. Curr. Pharm. Des. 7: 637-654.
Gross TS, Akeno N, Clemens TL, Komarova S, Srinivasan S, Weimer D.A, Mayorov SG (2001) Osteocytes upregulate HIF-1 in response to acute disuse and oxygen deprivation. J. Appl. Physiol. 90, 2514-2519.
Komarova SV, Ataullakhanov FI, Globus RK (2000) Changes in energy metabolism of primary rat osteoblasts during differentiation. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 279, C1220-1229.
Vitvitsky VM, Frolova EV, Martinov MV, Komarova SV, Ataullakhanov FI (2000) Anion permeability and erythrocyte swelling. Bioelectrochemistry, 52, 169-177.
Komarova SV, Mosharov EV, Vitvitsky VM, Ataullakhanov FI (1999) Adenylate nucleotide synthesis in human erythrocyte depends on the mode of supplementation of cell suspension with adenosine. Blood Cells, Mol. Dis., 25, 170-179.
Ataullakhanov FI, Martynov MV, Komarova SV, Vitvitsky VM (1996) A possible role of adenylate metabolism in human erythrocytes. 2. Adenylate metabolism is able to improve the erythrocyte volume stabilization. J. Theor. Biol., 183, 307-316. .
Ataullakhanov FI, Komarova SV, Vitvitsky VM, (1996) A possible role of adenylate metabolism in human erythrocytes: simple mathematical model. J Theo. Biol, 179, 75-86. .
Ataullakhanov FI, Vitvitsky VM, Komarova SV, Mosharov EV (1996). Energy-dependent processes and metabolism of adenylates in human erythrocytes. Biokhimia, 61, 266-274. .
Ataullakhanov FI, Batasheva TV, Bukhman VM, Oreshkina TD, Vitvitsky VM, Komarova SV(1994) Treatment of Rausher virus induced murine erythroblastic leukemia with rubomycin loaded erythrocytes. Advances in Biosciences, 92, 177-183. .
Ataullakhanov FI, Batasheva TV, Vitvitsky VM, Komarova SV(1993) Effect of glutaraldehyde treatment on rubomycin and hemoglobin leakage from murine erythrocytes loaded with rubomycin. Biotekhnologia, 2, 40-43. .