Emidio E. Pistilli, Ph.D.
	Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology Graduate Training: West Virginia University Fellowship: Research Center for Genetic Medicine, Children's National Medical Center and University of Pennsylvania
	Office: Room 3145C Lab: Room 3145 PO Box 9105 Morgantown, WV 26506	Email: epistilli2@hsc.wvu.edu Phone: 304-293-0291 Fax: 304-293-3315

Research Interests:

Research in this laboratory is focused on evaluating muscle function in disease states, and developing strategies to improve dysregulated muscle and exercise performance.  A specific interest is the role that interleukin-15 receptor alpha (IL-15Rα) has in reprogramming skeletal and cardiac muscle.  The loss of IL-15Rα in vivo initiates a program of remodeling in which fast skeletal muscles adopt a fatigue-resistant, slower contractile phenotype which seems to increase the exercise capacity of these genetically modified mice.  The effects that this remodeling has on cardiac muscle phenotypes will be explored through physiological (Langendorff isolated heart preparation) and molecular analyses. 
The future goals of the lab are to: 1) more fully characterize the mechanisms that lead to muscle remodeling with loss of IL-15Rα; 2) develop IL-15Rα as a therapy for muscle dysfunction during disease states; and 3) study the effects of IL-15Rα deficiency on cardiac muscle phenotypes.

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Selected Publications:

1. Pistilli EE, Bogdanovich S, Garton F, Yang N, Guilbin JP, Conner JD, Anderson BG, Quinn LS, North K, Ahima RS, and Khurana TS.  Loss of interleukin-15Rα alters the endurance, fatigability and metabolic characteristics of mouse fast skeletal muscles.  Journal of Clinical Investigation, In Press.
2. Pistilli EE, Bogdanovich S, Lachey J, Seehra J, and Khurana TS.  Targeting the activin type IIB receptor to improve muscle mass and function in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).  American Journal of Pathology, 178(3): 1287-1297, 2011.
3. Quinn LS, Anderson BG, Conner JD, Pistilli EE, and Wolden-Hanson T.  Overexpression of interleukin-15 in mice promotes resistance to diet-induced obesity, increased insulin sensitivity, and markers of oxidative skeletal muscle metabolism.  Submitted to International Journal of Interferon, Cytokine, and Mediator Research, (Online Journal) http://www.dovepress.com/articles.php?article_id=7137&l=CspBcaJy9PBN87FNVrebIVkS125481, 2011.
4. Pistilli EE, Bogdanovich S, Mosqueira M, Lachey J, Seehra J, and Khurana TS.  Pre-treatment with a soluble activin type IIB receptor/Fc fusion protein improves hypoxia-induced muscle dysfunction.  American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 298: R96-R103, 2010.
5. Guerron AD, Rawat R, Sali A, Spurney CF, Pistilli E, Cha HJ, Pandey GS, Gernapudi R, Francia D, Farajian V, Escolar DM, Bossi L, Becker M, Zerr P, de la Porte S, Gordish-Dressman H, Partridge T, Hoffman EP, and Nagaraju K.  Functional and molecular effects of arginine butyrate and prednisone on muscle and heart in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. PLoS One, 5(6): e11220, 2010.
6. Spurney CF, Cha HJ, Sali A, Pandey GS, Pistilli E, Guerron AD, Hoffman EP,  and Nagaraju K.  Evaluation of skeletal and cardiac muscle function after chronic administration of thymosin beta-4 in the dystrophin deficient mouse.  PLoS ONE, 5(1): e8976, 2010.
7. Spurney CF, Gordish-Dressman H, Guerron D, Sali A, Pandey GS, Rawat R, van der Meulen J, Cha HJ, Pistilli EE, Partridge TA, Hoffman EP, Nagaraju K.  Preclinical drug trials in the mdx mouse: Assessment of reliable and sensitive outcome measures.  Muscle & Nerve, 39(5): 591-601, 2009.
8. Siu PM, Pistilli EE, & Alway SE.  Age-dependent increase in oxidative stress in gastrocnemius muscle with aging.  Journal of Applied Physiology, 105(6): 1695-1705, 2008.
9. Spurney CF, Knoblach S, Pistilli EE, Nagaraju K, Martin GR, and Hoffman EP.  Dystrophin-deficient cardiomyopathy in mouse: Expression of Nox4 and Lox are associated with fibrosis and altered functional parameters in the heart.  Neuromuscular Disorders, 18(5): 371-381, 2008.
10. Pistilli EE, and Alway SE.  Systemic elevation of interleukin-15 in vivo promotes apoptosis in skeletal muscles of young adult and aged rats.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 373(1): 20-24, 2008.
11. Pistilli EE, Gordish-Dressman H, Devaney J, Seip RL, Thompson PD, Angelopoulos TJ, Clarkson PM, Moyna NM, Pescatello LS, Visich PS, Zoeller RF, Gordon PM, and Hoffman EP.  Interleukin-15 and interleukin-15Rα SNPs and associations with muscle, bone, and predictors of the metabolic syndrome.  Cytokine, 43(1): 45-53, 2008.
12. Pistilli EE, Siu PM, and Alway SE.  Interleukin-15 responses to aging and unloading-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.  American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, 292: C1298-C1304, 2007.
13. Pistilli EE, Jackson JR, and Alway SE.  Death receptor-associated pro-apoptotic signaling in aged skeletal muscle.  Apoptosis, 11(12): 2115-2126, 2006.
14. Pistilli EE, Siu PM, and Alway SE.  Molecular regulation of apoptosis in atrophied fast plantaris muscles of young and aged rats.  Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 61(3): 245-255, 2006.
15. Siu PM, Pistilli EE, Butler DC, and Alway SE. Aging influences the cellular and molecular responses of apoptosis to skeletal muscle unloading. American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, 288(2): C338-349, 2005.