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Jones Lab

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Research interests

My principal research interest is in how calcium cycling is controlled in excitable cells, including cardiac and skeletal muscle as we as neurons. My focus is on the mechanisms by which calcium release from intra-cellular stores (endo/sarcoplasmic reticulum, ER/SR) is controlled by the type 2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2). The aim of my research is to characterize how the activity of RyR2 is altered both physiologically and in disease. This is achieved using a broad spectrum of assays from molecular biology and single channel recordings, through to isolated cells and tissue and ultimately whole animal models and patients.

Keywords

Arrhythmia, RyR2, calcium, endo/sarcoplasmic reticulum, seizures, Alzheimer’s disease

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Current funding

  • 2023–2026 Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund
  • 2023–2024 Heart Foundation of New Zealand
  • 2020–2024 Health Research Council Project
  • 2020–2022 Neurological Foundation of New Zealand

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Previous funding

  • 2018–2021 Health Research Council Project
  • 2018–2020 Health Research Council Explorer
  • 2016–2019 Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund
  • 2016–2018 Heart Foundation of New Zealand
  • 2015–2017 Heart Foundation of New Zealand
  • 2015–2018 Health Research Council Project
  • 2011–2014 Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund, Fast Start Award

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Collaborators

  • Badrilla Ltd (characterisation of phosphor-specific cardiac antibodies)

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Publications

Parveen, S., Cheah, P. H. S., Worthington, L. P. I., Smither, R. A., Munro, M. L., Bussey, C. T., Lamberts, R. R., & Jones, P. P. (2022). Depressed HCN4 function in the type 2 diabetic sinoatrial node. Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11010-022-04635-6

Ng, Y. H., Lamberts, R. R., Jones, P. P., Sammut, I. A., Diffee, G. M., Wilkins, G. T., & Baldi, J. C. (2022). Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase activity is unchanged despite increased myofilament calcium sensitivity in Zucker type 2 diabetic fatty rat heart. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 16904. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-20520-0

Jones, P. (2022, August). Role of calcium in arrhythmias. Verbal presentation at the Metabolic & Cardiovascular Disease Satellite Meeting: Queenstown Research Week, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Aitken-Buck, H. M., Waddell, H. M. M., Babakr, A. A., Moore, M. K., Berkahn, E. F., van Hout, I., Fomison-Nurse, I. C., Moharram, M., … Coffey, S., Jones, P. P., & Lamberts, R. R. (2022, August). Linking epicardial fat to cardio-metabolic disease: Evidence from basic research. Verbal presentation at the Metabolic & Cardiovascular Disease Satellite Meeting: Queenstown Research Week, Queenstown, New Zealand.

de Jonge, W., Van Hout, I., Leleai, M., Gosling, A., Parry, D., Coffey, S., Jones, P. P., Schwenke, D. O., Matisoo-Smith, L., Coppell, K., & Lamberts, R. R. (2022, August-September). Representation of Māori and Pacific Island patients in cardiac research requiring tissue collection in the Southern District Health Board region in Aotearoa. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Khaing, E. P., Okolo, C. A., Erickson, J. R., & Jones, P. P. (2022, August-September). Regulation of RyR2 by O-GlcNAcylation. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Watanabe, E., Deb, A., & Jones, P. P. (2022, August-September). The development of a super-resolution fluorescence microscope for investigating protein distribution in human tissue. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Pirker, T., & Jones, P. P. (2022, August-September). CK2 phosphorylation of RyR2 in heart failure patients. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Ohline, S. M., Liu, X., Ibrahim, M. F., Mockett, B., Empson, R. M., Abraham, W. C., Iremonger, K. J., & Jones, P. P. (2022, August-September). Altered membrance properties but unchanged intrinsic excitability and spontaneous postsynaptic currents in an aged APPswe/PS1dE9 model of Alzheimer's disease. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Hintz, M., Mereacre, V., & Jones, P. (2022, August-September). CK2-mediated hyperphosphorylation of RyR2: Can it protect against cardiac arrhythmia? Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Sibbles, E., Jones, P., & Munro, M. (2022, August-September). Determining the functional effect of CSQ2 glycosylation on calcium-handling and heart failure. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Mereacre, V., & Jones, P. (2022, August-September). Phosphorylation of RyR2 by CK2 is anti-arrhythmic. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress (MedSci), Queenstown, New Zealand.

Ohline, S. M., Liu, X., Ibrahim, M. F., Mockett, B. G., Empson, R. M., Abraham, W. C., Iremonger, K. J., & Jones, P. P. (2022). Altered membrane properties but unchanged intrinsic excitability and spontaneous postsynaptic currents in an aged APPswe/PS1dE9 model of Alzheimer’s disease. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 16, 958876. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.958876

Chan, J. A., & Jones, P. P. (2022). The effect of benzothiazepine S107, a preventative Ca2+ leak drug, on ryanodine type II receptor (RyR2) calcium leak. In K. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 58). Retrieved from https://www.queenstownresearchweek.org

Silva, R., Ohline, S., Munro, M., & Jones, P. (2022). Role of ryanodine receptor clustering in Alzheimer's disease. In K. Horne (Ed.), Proceedings of the 38th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR). (pp. 52). Retrieved from https://www.queenstownresearchweek.org

Aitken-Buck, H., Krause, J., Coffey, S., Zeller, T., Jones, P., & Lamberts, R. (2022). Identification of acylcarnitine dysregulation in atrial fibrillation and the role of circulating acylcarnitines in arrhythmogenesis. Heart, Lung & Circulation, 31(Suppl. 3), (pp. S312). doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2022.06.541

Satthenapalli, R., Lee, S., Bellae Papannarao, J., Hore, T. A., Chakraborty, A., Jones, P. P., Lamberts, R. R., & Katare, R. (2022). Stage-specific regulation of signalling pathways to differentiate pluripotent stem cells to cardiomyocytes with ventricular lineage. Stem Cell Research & Therapy, 13(1), 185. doi: 10.1186/s13287-022-02845-9

Gonano, L. A., Aitken-Buck, H. M., Chakraborty, A. D., Worthington, L. P. I., Cully, T. R., Lamberts, R. R., … Jones, P. P. (2022). Regulation of cardiac ryanodine receptor function by the cyclic-GMP dependent protein kinase G. Current Research in Physiology, 5, 171-178. doi: 10.1016/j.crphys.2022.03.004

Sibbles, E. T., Waddell, H. M. M., Mereacre, V., Jones, P. P., & Munro, M. L. (2022). The function and regulation of calsequestrin-2: Implications in calcium-mediated arrhythmias. Biophysical Reviews, 14, 329-352. doi: 10.1007/s12551-021-00914-6

Mereacre, V., & Jones, P. (2021). Phosphorylation of RyR2 by CK2 is anti-arrhythmic. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1547), (pp. 138-139). Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Aitken-Buck, H. M., Krause, J., van Hout, I., Davis, P. J., Bunton, R. W., Parry, D. J., Williams, M. J. A., Coffey, S., … Jones, P. P., & Lamberts, R. R. (2021). Long-chain acylcarnitine 18:1 acutely increases human atrial myocardial contractility and arrhythmia susceptibility. American Journal of Physiology: Heart & Circulatory Physiology, 321, H162-H174. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00184.2021

Aitken-Buck, H. M., van Hout, I., Krause, J., Davis, P. J., Bunton, R. W., Parry, D. J., Williams, M. J. A., Coffey, S., … Jones, P. P., & Lamberts, R. R. (2021). Arrhythmogenic and inotropic effects of long-chain acylcarnitines in the human heart. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1537), (pp. 111-112). Retrieved from https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal

Ng, Y. H., Okolo, C. A., Erickson, J. R., Baldi, J. C., & Jones, P. P. (2021). Protein O-GlcNAcylation in the heart. Acta Physiologica, 233, e13696. doi: 10.1111/apha.13696

Zhong, X., Guo, W., Wei, J., Tang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, J. Z., … Jones, P. P., … Wayne Chen, S. R. (2021). Identification of loss-of-function RyR2 mutations associated with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and sudden death. Bioscience Reports, 41, BSR20210209. doi: 10.1042/bsr20210209

Munro, M. L., van Hout, I., Aitken-Buck, H., Sugunesegran, R., Bhagwat, K., Davis, P. J., Lamberts, R. R., Coffey, S., … Jones, P. P. (2021). Human atrial fibrillation is not associated with remodeling of ryanodine receptor clusters. Frontiers in Cell & Developmental Biology, 9, 633704. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.633704

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