MICHAEL C. LEVIN, M.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Neurology

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Address

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

855 Monroe Avenue, Room 415

Memphis, TN 38163

Tel: (901) 448-2243; Fax: (901) 448-7440;

Education

M.D. Institution: The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University

Postdoctoral: National Institutes of Health, Neuroimmunology Branch

Research Interests

This laboratory studies the relationship between viruses and immune-associated diseases of the human central nervous system, particularly multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, they study how patients infected with HTLV-1 (human T - lymphotropic virus type I) develop HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), a demyelinating disease with similarities to MS. Current experiments focus on two major areas. First, identifying a novel auto-antibody response in HAM/TSP patients that may identify a human protein with similarities to viral proteins, an area of study known as molecular mimicry. Second, experiments are designed to identify abnormal expression of RNA using single cell analysis of abnormal areas of brain from MS and HAM/TSP patients. By identifying what cells produce in the central nervous system they hope to develop novel therapeutic strategies to help treat patients with these diseases.

Links

Neurology - Michael C. Levin

Recent Publications

• Lee S, Levin MC. Molecular mimicry in neurological disease: what is the evidence? Cell Mol Life Sci. 2008 Apr;65(7-8):1161-75. Review. PMID: 18193392
• Levin MC, Monetti M, Watt MJ, Sajan MP, Stevens RD, Bain JR, Newgard CB, Farese RV Sr, Farese RV Jr. Increased lipid accumulation and insulin resistance in transgenic mice expressing DGAT2 in glycolytic (type II) muscle. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Dec;293(6):E1772-81. Epub 2007 Oct 16. PMID: 17940217
• Monetti M, Levin MC, Watt MJ, Sajan MP, Marmor S, Hubbard BK, Stevens RD, Bain JR, Newgard CB, Farese RV Sr, Hevener AL, Farese RV Jr. Dissociation of hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in mice overexpressing DGAT in the liver. Cell Metab. 2007 Jul;6(1):69-78. PMID: 17618857
• Stone SJ, Levin MC, Farese RV Jr. Membrane topology and identification of key functional amino acid residues of murine acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2. J Biol Chem. 2006 Dec 29;281(52):40273-82. Epub 2006 Oct 10. PMID: 17035227
• Lee SM, Dunnavant FD, Jang H, Zunt J, Levin MC. Autoantibodies that recognize functional domains of hnRNPA1 implicate molecular mimicry in the pathogenesis of neurological disease. Neurosci Lett. 2006 Jun 19;401(1-2):188-93. Epub 2006 Apr 5. PMID: 16600502
• Lee SM, Morcos Y, Jang H, Stuart JM, Levin MC. HTLV-1 induced molecular mimicry in neurological disease. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2005;296:125-36. Review. PMID: 16323422

view complete list of references (pubmed link)