Research Terms
Biotechnology Genetic Engineering Protein Engineering Artificial Intelligence Biochemistry Cell Biology Gravitational Biology Molecular Biology Structural Biology Physiology Cellular Physiology Cardiology Cardiovascular Diseases and Disorders Heart Diseases Cardiomyopathies Atrophic Disorders
Keywords
Biochemistry Bioengineering Biophysics Cardiac Cardiomyopathy Cardiovascular Disease Computational Biophysics Fibrosis Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Molecular Biophysics Molecular Physiology Muscle Atrophy Skeletal Muscle Tissue Biomechanics Tissue Culture Tissue Engineering
Industries
Modeling, Simulation, & Training (MST) Biotech Health Care
| Ends | Title |
| 08-2026 |
Post-translational mechanisms of cardiac adaptation during unloading
Post-translational mechanisms of cardiac adaptation during unloading
National Heart Lung Blood Inst
|
Dr. Christopher Solís is an Assistant Professor at Florida State University. The central theme of his research is to understand how the heart regulates its size. Specifically, the interest is in understanding how cardiac muscle cells coordinate the assembly and disassembly of their cellular cytoskeleton known as sarcomere and how disease derails normal function. The current subject of study is how phosphorylation of alpha-actinin (gene ACTN2) is responsible for facilitating the assembly of sarcomeres in cardiac muscle in response to mechanical feedback as well as the mechanistic basis of alpha-actinin mutations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In the past, Dr. Solís previously studied how the actin capping protein CapZ (genes CAPZA and CAPZB) integrates mechanical signals in cardimyocytes to promote sarcomere assembly and remodeling via post-translational modification and lipid signaling. Dr. Solís has also contributed to the dissemination of the field of biophysics to our future generations. Dr. Solís has been a recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award issued by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Solís is a finalist of the 2026 Young Investigator Career Award (YICA) from the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR). He founded the first Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium back in 2019 thanks to the support of the Biophysical Society and is a a member of the Early Career Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS) Council. Dr. Solís has also participated at the Basic Biology of Blood, Heart and Vasculature (BBHV) study section at the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and currently serves in the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology.
Munoz, M, Solis, C, McCann, M, Park, J, Rafael-Clyke, K, Chowdhury, SAK, Jiang, Y, Rosas, PC (2024) P21-activated kinase-1 signaling is required to preserve adipose tissue homeostasis and cardiac function. Molecular and cellular biochemistry, 10.1007/s11010-024-04968-4. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-024-04968-4
Rawat V, DeLear P, Prashanth P, Ozgurses ME, Tebeje A, Burns PA, Conger KO, Soli?s C, Hasnain Y, Novikova A, Endress JE, Gonza?lez-Sa?nchez P, Dong W, Stephanopoulos G, DeNicola GM, Harris IS, Sept D, Mason FM, Coloff JL. Drug screening in human physiologic medium identifies uric acid as an inhibitor of rigosertib efficacy. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023: 2023.07.26.550731. doi: 10.1101/2023.07.26.550731
Woitowich, NC., Hengel, SR., Solis, C, Vilgalys, TP, Babdor, J, Tyrrell, DJ (2024). Analysis of NIH K99/R00 awards and the career progression of awardees. eLife, 12, RP88984. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88984. Highlighted on the cover of the issue.
Soli?s C*, Warren CM, Dittloff K, DiNello E, Solaro RJ, Russell B. Cardiomyocyte external mechanical unloading activates modifications of ?-actinin differently from sarcomere-originated unloading. FEBS J. 2023. doi: 10.1111/febs.16925. Highlighted on the cover of the issue
Soli?s C, Thompson WC, Pen?a JR, McDermott-Roe C, Langa P, Warren CM, Chrzanowska M, Wolska BM, Solaro RJ, Pieter Detombe and Goldspink PH (2022) Mechano-growth factor E-domain modulates cardiac contractile function through 14-3-3 protein interactomes. Front. Physiol. 13:1028345. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1028345
Chaves G, Rodri?guez-Corrales JA, Soli?s, C*. Editorial for ‘Issue focus on 2nd Costa Rica biophysics symposium — March 11th–12th, 2021’. Biophys Rev. 2022 14(2), 545-548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-022-00947-5
Dittloff KT, Spanghero E, Soli?s C, Banach K, Russell B. Transthyretin deposition alters cardiomyocyte sarcomeric architecture, calcium transients and contractile force. Physiological Reports. 2022 10 (5), e15207
Soli?s C, Russell B. Striated muscle proteins are regulated both by mechanical deformation and by chemical post-translational modification. Biophys Rev. 2021 13(5), 679-695. doi:10.1007/s12551- 021-00835-4
Soli?s C*, Chaves G, & Rodriguez-Corrales, J. Announcing the call for the Issue Focus on the 2nd Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium-virtual meeting. Biophys Rev. 2021; 1-2. doi:10.1007/s12551- 021-00816-7
Soli?s C, Solaro RJ. Novel insights into sarcomere regulatory systems control of cardiac thin filament activation. J Gen Physiol. 2021 Jul 5;153(7):e202012777. doi: 10.1085/jgp.202012777. PMID: 33740037
Russell B, Soli?s C. Mechanosignaling pathways alter muscle structure and function by post- translational modification of existing sarcomeric proteins to optimize energy usage. J Muscle Res Cell Motil. 2021 Feb 17. doi: 10.1007/s10974-021-09596-9. PMID: 33595762.
Johnson D, Landim-Vieira M, Soli?s C, Zhu L, Robinson JM, Pinto JR, Chalovich JM. Eliminating the First Inactive State and Stabilizing the Active State of the Cardiac Regulatory System Alters Behavior in Solution and in Ordered Systems. Biochemistry. 2020 Sep 22; 59(37):3487-3497. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00430. Epub 2020 Sep 9. PMID: 32840354.
Soli?s C*, Robinson JM. Cardiac troponin and tropomyosin bind to F-actin cooperatively, as revealed by fluorescence microscopy. FEBS Open Bio. 2020;10(7):1362-1372. doi:10.1002/2211- 5463.12876
Soli?s C*, Rodri?guez-Corrales JA, Alvarado FJ Lessons Learned from Organizing a Biophysics Symposium in a Developing Country. The Biophysicist. 2020; 1(2): 2. doi: https://doi.org/10.35459/tbp.2019.000144
Soli?s C, Russell B. CapZ integrates several signaling pathways in response to mechanical stiffness. J Gen Physiol. 2019; 151(5):660-669. doi:10.1085/jgp.201812199. Highlighted on the cover of the issue
Mkrtschjan MA, Soli?s, C, Wondmagengn, A, Majithia, J, Russell, B. PKC epsilon signaling effect on actin assembly is diminished in cardiomyocytes when challenged to additional work in a stiff microenvironment. Cytoskeleton. 2018; 75(8): 363-371
Mkrtschjan M.A., Gaikwad, S.B., Kappenman, K.J., Soli?s, C., Dommaraju, S., Le, L., Desai, TA, Russell, B. Lipid signaling affects primary fibroblast collective migration and anchorage in response to stiffness and microtopography. J Cell Physiol. 2018; 233(4): 3672-3683
Le, LV, Mohindra, P, Fang, Q, Sievers, RE, Mkrtschjan M, Solis, C., Safraneke, CW, Russell, B, Lee, RJ, Desai, TA. Injectable hyaluronic acid based microrods provide local micromechanical and biochemical cues to attenuate cardiac fibrosis after myocardial infarction. Biomaterials. 2018; 169: 11-21.doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.03.042. PMID: 29631164; PMCID: PMC5931400.
Soli?s, C*, Kim, GH, Moutsoglou, ME, Robinson, JM. Ca2+ and Myosin Cycle States Work as Allosteric Effectors of Troponin Activation. Biophysical Journal. 2018; 115: 1762–1769
Rodri?guez-Corrales, J.A., Gonza?lez Murillo, A.H., Mora Aparicio, C., Solis-Ocampo, C. Control Banding for wastes: a spreadsheet for a simple and fast comparison of impact on the environment of wastes with chemical substances. Uniciencia. 2013; 27(1): 140-155. 2013. ISSN 1101 – 0275
American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council, Board of Advisors; 2026 - 2028
BBHV Study Section Reviewer, National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review; 2025 - 2026
Editoral Board Member, American Journal of Physiology; 2024 - 2027
Dr. Christopher Solís is an Assistant Professor at Florida State University. The central theme of his research is to understand how the heart regulates its size. Specifically, the interest is in understanding how cardiac muscle cells coordinate the assembly and disassembly of their cellular cytoskeleton known as sarcomere and how disease derails normal function. The current subject of study is how phosphorylation of alpha-actinin (gene ACTN2) is responsible for facilitating the assembly of sarcomeres in cardiac muscle in response to mechanical feedback as well as the mechanistic basis of alpha-actinin mutations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In the past, Dr. Solís previously studied how the actin capping protein CapZ (genes CAPZA and CAPZB) integrates mechanical signals in cardimyocytes to promote sarcomere assembly and remodeling via post-translational modification and lipid signaling. Dr. Solís has also contributed to the dissemination of the field of biophysics to our future generations. Dr. Solís has been a recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award issued by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Solís is a finalist of the 2026 Young Investigator Career Award (YICA) from the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR). He founded the first Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium back in 2019 thanks to the support of the Biophysical Society and is a a member of the Early Career Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS) Council. Dr. Solís has also participated at the Basic Biology of Blood, Heart and Vasculature (BBHV) study section at the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and currently serves in the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology.
Speaker Topics
Bioengineering Biomedical Engineering Cardiac Cardiac Cell Differentiation Cardiomyopathy Cardiovascular Disease Cardiovascular Physiology Cell Biology Cell Communication Cell Engineering Cell Lines Cell Mechanics Cell Signaling Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Muscle Atrophy Skeletal Muscle Stem Cell Stem Cell Biology Tissue Culture Tissue Engineering Tissue Mechanics
Target Audiences
Adults Elementary School High School Middle School
Fee Range
