Department of Medicine Faculty

Academic Interests

Cholesterol-laden foam cells have been linked to the pathogenesis of several chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Ancsin is interested in how foam cells are formed and in identifying new treatment strategies to reduce foam cell burdens. Towards this goal, he has focused on understanding and harnessing the physiological functions of serum amyloid A (SAA), an important component of our innate immune system, and glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an insulinotropic peptide hormone. Dr. Ancsin’s work on SAA has contributed to the identification of a number of functional domains in SAA that has lead to the development of novel peptide-based “anti-foam cell” agents with anti-atherosclerosis potential. Other studies are continuing to elucidate SAA’s cellular mechanism of action. In re¬lated studies, Dr. Ancsin is investigating how metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus impair the abili¬ty of macrophages to control their cellular cholesterol levels. These studies have identified GLP-1 as a major regulator of cholesterol homeostasis in monocytes and macrophages. In addition, Dr. Ancsin has had a longstanding interest in the role of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) as a targeting receptor for HDL-SAA and as a lipoprotein remodeling factor. He has also been active in delineating HSPG’s role in amyloidosis.

Representative Publications

1. Noborn F., Ancsin J.B., Ubhayasekera W., Kisilevsky R. and Li J.-P., (2012) Heparan sulfate dissociates serum amyloid A (SAA) from acute-phase high-density lipoprotein promoting SAA aggregation. J Biol Chem, in press
2. Elimova E., Kisilevsky R. and Ancsin J.B. (2009) Heparan sulfate promotes the aggregation of HDL-associated serum amyloid A: Evidence for a pro-amyloidogenic histidine molecular switch. FASEB J 23, 3436-3448
3. Elimova E., Kisilevsky R., Szarek W.A. and Ancsin J.B. (2004) Amyloidogenesis recapitulated in cell culture: A peptide inhibitor provides direct evidence for the role of heparan sulfate and suggests a new treatment strategy. FASEB J 18, 1749-51
4. Ancsin J.B., Kisilevsky R. and Tam S.-P. (2008) Acute-phase-HDL remodeling by heparan sulfate generates a novel lipoprotein with exceptional cholesterol efflux activity from macrophages. PLoS ONE http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003867
5. Tam S.-P., Ancsin J.B., Tan R. and Kisilevsky R. (2005) Peptides derived from serum amyloid A prevent and reverse aortic lipid lesions in apoE -/- mice. J Lipid Res 46, 2091-2101