The Palatinus Lab Studies Arrhythmogenesis and Sudden Cardiac Death.

Advancing the science of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death through research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and mentorship.

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Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death:

Sudden cardiac death remains the most common cause of natural death in the United States, affecting 300,000–400,000 Americans each year. A common finding in the hearts of victims is a loss of the normal distribution of ion channels and gap junctions within the heart muscle. The Palatinus Lab investigates how this protein trafficking defect causes arrhythmias and sudden death, and is developing therapeutic strategies — including GJA1-20k-based gene therapy to rescue the defect — with the goal of bringing these strategies to patients.

About Palatinus Lab

Our Research

The Palatinus Lab studies arrhythmogenesis and sudden cardiac death. Our work is organized around three major research questions:

Prediction and Prognostication in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Can we predict and prognosticate arrhythmias, heart failure and sudden death in patients with desmosome-related arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy?

Gap Junction Trafficking in Arrhythmias

How does gap junction trafficking contribute to atrial and ventricular arrhythmias?

GJA1-20k, Exercise, and Energy Utilization

How does exercise regulate the gap junction protein GJA1-20k, and how can we leverage GJA1-20k to optimize energy utilization?

Pending

Featured Publications

Recent publications from the Palatinus Lab on gap junction biology, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, and cardiac injury.

GJA1-20k Rescues Cx43 Localization and Arrhythmias in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy
_{Joseph A. Palatinus, Steven Valdez, Lindsey Taylor, Claire Whisenant, Craig H. Selzman, Stavros G Drakos, Ravi Ranjan, TingTing Hong, Jeffrey E. Saffitz and Robin M. Shaw. Circulation Research. 2023;132:744–746.}

Cell-Type-Specific Immune Dysregulation in Severely Ill COVID-19 Patients
_{Yao C, Bora SA, Parimon T, Zaman T, Friedman OA, Palatinus JA, et al. Cell Reports. 2021;34(1):108590.}

Interaction of α Carboxyl Terminus 1 Peptide With the Connexin 43 Carboxyl Terminus Preserves Left Ventricular Function After Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury
_{Jiang J, Hoagland D, Palatinus JA, He H, Iyyathurai J, Jourdan LJ, et al. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2019;8(16):e012385.}

Expression profiles of histone H4K20 methylation and its associated enzymes in mouse cardiac disease and human heart failue.
_{Hickenlooper S, Brady C, Bia R, Visker JR, Wang L, Valdez S, Gwynn C, Roland MN, Kyrikopoulos CP, Sideris K, Drakos SG, Szulik MW, Franklin S}

Mentorship and Training

Dr. Palatinus has a strong commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists and physician-scientists.

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Faculty

Joseph Palatinus, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

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