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Zsolt Urban, PhD

Associate Professor, Human Genetics

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Contact

3130 Parran Hall
R-znvy: heonam@cvgg.rqh
Primary Phone: 967-193-3714
Fax: 967-179-8575
Web site: http://cutislaxa.pitt.edu

Personal Statement

Dr. Urban is a molecular geneticist. He received his postdoctoral training at the University of Hawaii and served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis from 2004 to 2009.

The Urban Lab is focused on inherited diseases of the extracellular matrix, particularly the elastic fiber system. Human genetic diseases under study include supravalvular aortic stenosis, Williams syndrome and cutis laxa. Cellular and zebrafish models are used to identify key molecules and processes of elastic fiber formation and maintenance and to establish connections between the extracellular matrix, growth factor signaling and metabolism. The insights from Mendelian diseases and models are applied to understand common, complex diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and aneurysms. A new research direction in the laboratory is the transcriptional control of energy use and storage related to obesity.

Research Interests:

Inherited diseases of elastic fibers, obesity, human genetics, cellular and zebrafish models

Education

Teaching

HUGEN 2040 Molecular Basis of Human Inherited Disease
HUGEN 2051 Inborn Errors of Development
HUGEN 2025 Human Genetics Noon Seminar

Selected Publications

Selected publications

(from a total of 62)

Urban Z, Davis EC. (2014) Cutis laxa: Intersection of elastic fiber biogenesis, TGFβ signaling, the secretory pathway and metabolism. Matrix Biol 33:16-22.

Kozel, BA, Su CT, Danback JR, Minster RL, Madan-Khetarpal S, McConnell J, Mac Neal MK, Levine KL, Wilson RC, Sciurba, FC, Urban Z. (2014) Biomechanical properties of the skin in cutis laxa. J Invest Dermatol 134:2836-2838.

Su CT, Huang JW, Chiang CK, Lawrence EC, Levine KL, Dabovic B, Jung C, Davis EC, Madan-Khetarpal S, Urban Z. (2015) Latent transforming growth factor binding protein 4 regulates transforming growth factor beta receptor stability. Hum Mol Genet 24:4024-4036.

Misra A, Sheikh AQ, Kumar A, Luo J, Zhang J, Hinton RB, Smoot L, Kaplan P, Urban Z, Qyang Y, Tellides G, Greif DM. (2016) Integrin beta3 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for supravalvular aortic stenosis. J Exp Med 213:451-453.

Minster RL, Hawley NL, Su CT, Sun G, Kershaw EE, Cheng H, Buhule OD, Lin J, Reupena MS, Viali S, Tuitele J, Naseri T, Urban Z, Deka R, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST (2016) A thrifty variant in CREBRF strongly influences body mass index in Samoans. Nat Genet 48:1049-1054.