Middle name

J.

Address

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, 259 Mack Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201

Office Phone

(313) 577-5594

Research Interests

Cancer is a disease in which altered programming of select signaling pathways provides a growth or survival advantage. Current efforts are directed at the development of therapeutics that directly target the critical signaling nexus (i.e., N-Ras) of malignant tumors derived from neurofibromatosis type 1 patients, as well as the downstream effector pathways of activated Ras. I am also interested in understanding how manipulation of autophagy, which is generally viewed as a prosurvival pathway, can be used as a cancer therapeutic. Finally, I continue to study how targeted organelle damage, as induced in photodynamic therapy protocols, induces cell death, and how it can be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of other chemotherapeutic agents.

Detroit has the unfortunate distinction of having significant air pollution. As a charter member of the Geospatial Determinants of Health Outcomes Consortium, I have, since 2008, been involved in high resolution spatial monitoring of ambient air pollution in the city of Detroit, modeling of that air pollution to provide estimates of exposure, and relating exposure to adverse health outcomes. Current studies are directed at examining the relationships between air pollutant exposure (full term and tri-semester specific) and incidence of preterm delivery, low birth weight, gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension in a Detroit cohort containing 10,000 births.

Department

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Selected publications

Kessel D and Reiners Jr JJ. Enhanced efficacy of photodynamic therapy via a sequential targeting protocol. Photchem. Photobiol., epub ahead of press, March 2014. Link

Lemke LD, Lamerato LE, Lu X, Booza JC, Reiners Jr JJ, Raymond III DM, Villeneuve PJ, Lavigne E, Larkin, D and Krouse HJ. Geospatial relationships of air pollution and acute asthma events across the Detroit-Windsor international border: Study design and preliminary results. J. Expo. Sci. Environ. Epidemiol., 24:346-357, 2014. Link 

Elliott* A, Joiakim A, Mathieu PA, Duniec-Dmuchowski Z, Kocarek TA and Reiners Jr JJ. p-Anilinoaniline enhancement of dioxin-induced CYP1A1 transcription and aryl hydrocarbon receptor occupancy of CYP1A1 promoter: Role of the cell cycle. Drug Metab. Dispos. 40:1032-1040, 2012. Link

Kessel D, Price* M, Reiners Jr JJ. Atg7 deficiency suppresses apoptosis and cell death induced by lysosomal photodamage. Autophagy 8:1334-1341, 2012. Link 

Klionsky DJ, Abdalla FC, Abeliovich H, Abraham RT, Acevedo-Arozena A, et al. Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy. Autophagy 8:1-100, 2012. Link 

Kessel D and Reiners Jr JJ. Light-activated pharmaceuticals: Mechanisms and Detection. Israel J. Chem. 52:674-680, 2012. Link  

Kessel D, Price* M, Caruso J, and Reiners Jr JJ. Effects of photodynamic therapy on the endocytic pathway. Photochem Photobiol Sci. 10:491-498, 2011. Link 

Reiners Jr JJ, Kleinman*, M, Kessel D, Mathieu PA and Caruso JA. Non-esterified cholesterol content of lysosomes modulates oxidant-induced permeabilization. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 50:281-294, 2011. Link 

Wojtkowiak* JW, Sane* KM, Kleinman* M, Sloane BF, Reiners Jr JJ and Mattingly RR. Aborted autophagy and non-apoptotic death induced by farnesyl transferase inhibitor and lovastatin. J. Pharm. Exper. Therap. 337:65-74, 2011. Link 

Reiners Jr JJ, Agostinis P, Berg K, Oleinick N and Kessel D. Assessing autophagy in the context of photodynamic therapy. Autophagy 6:7-18, 2010. Link 

Miller* L, Lemke LD, Xu S, Molaroni S, You H, Wheeler AJ, Booza J, Grgicak-Mannion A, Krajenta R, Graniero P, Krouse H, Lamerato L, Raymond D, Reiners Jr JJ and Weglicki L. Intra-urban correlation and spatial variability of air toxics across an international airshed in Detroit, Michigan (USA) and Windsor, Ontario (Canada). Atmospheric Environment 44:1162-1174, 2010. Link

Sane* KM, Maynor M, Lalonde DT, Dean IS, Wojtkowiak* J, Fouad Fl, Borch RF, Reiners Jr JJ, Gibbs RA and Mattingly RR. A novel geranylgeranyl transferase inhibitor in combination with lovastatin inhibits proliferation and induces autophagy in STS-26T MPNST cells. J. Pharm. Exper. Therap. 333:23-33, 2010. Link 

Kraniak JM, Sun* D, Mattingly RR, Reiners Jr JJ and Tainsky MA. The role of neurofibromin in N-Ras mediated AP-1 regulation in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 344:267-276, 2010. Link

Reiners Jr JJ, Kleinman* M, Joiakim* A and Mathieu PA. The chemotherapeutic agents XK469 and SH80 inhibit cytokinesis and promote polyploidy and induce senescence. J. Pharm. Exper. Therap. 328:796-806, 2009. Link

Price* M, Reiners Jr JJ, Santiago AM and Kessel D. Monitoring singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radical formation with fluorescent probes during photodynamic therapy. Photochem. Photobiol. 85:1178-1181, 2009. Link 

Wojtkowiak* JW, Fouad F, Lalonde DT, Kleinman* MD, Gibbs RA, Reiners Jr JJ, Borch RF and Mattingly RR. Induction of apoptosis in neurofibromatosis type 1 malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor cell lines by a combination of novel farnesyl transferase inhibitors and lovastatin. J. Pharm. Exper. Therap., 326:1-11, 2008. Link

Elliott* A and Reiners Jr JJ. Suppression of autophagy enhances the cytotoxicity of the DNA-damaging aromatic amine p-anilinoaniline. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 232:167-179, 2008. Link 
 

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