Simon Geir Moller

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ProvostVice President for Academic AffairsProfessor
Biological Sciences
St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Ph.D.

Research Overview
Our research is divided into several areas. The main project in our laboratory focuses on Parkinson's disease where we are defining molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with disease onset and progression. Our lab uses a combination of several model systems including plants, zebrafish and mammalian cell lines.  In combination these models represent a powerful approach.  Our research on Parkinson’s disease benefits tremendously from our collaboration with Professor Jan Petter Larsen at The Norwegian Centre for Movement Disorders at Stavanger University Hospital and with the research group of Professor Mark Odell at Westminster University, UK. A second focus is targeted towards iron-sulfur biogenesis mechanisms and consequences in a cellular context within various cellular compartments. We also have an interest in understanding how plastids divide inside plant cells and how we can engineer the plastid genome for the production of valuable proteins for the industry sector.

Postdoctoral Research

  • Dr. Aisling Dunne
  • Dr. Ramavati Pal

Ph.D. Graduate Students

  • Rashed Abdullah, Ph.D. Student
  • Indranil Basak, Ph.D. Student
  • Fatima Bensabeur, Ph.D. Student
  • Jan Hempel, Ph.D. Student
  • Ketan Patil, Ph.D. Student

Undergraduate Students

  • Meiyi Shi
  • Peter Yang
  1. Ketan S. Patil⁠, Indranil Basak, Ingvild Dalen, Esthelle Hoedt, Johannes Lange, Kristin A. Lunde, Ying Liu, Ole-Bjørn Tysnes, Lars Forsgren, Dag Aarsland, Thomas A. Neubert, Jan Petter Larsen, Guido Alves, and Simon Geir Møller ⁠(2019) Combinatory microRNA serum signatures as classifiers of Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, in press
  2. Abdullah R, Basak I, Patil KS, Alves G, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2014) Parkinson's disease and age: The obvious but largely unexplored link. Exp Gerontol. In press
  3. Dunne A, Maple-Grødem J, Gargano D, Haslam RP, Napier JA, Chua NH, Russell R, Møller SG. (2014) Modifying fatty acid profiles through a new cytokinin-based plastid transformation system. Plant J. in press
  4. Jami MS, Pal R, Hoedt E, Neubert TA, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2014) Proteome analysis reveals roles of L-DOPA in response to oxidative stress in neurons. BMC Neurosci.15:93.
  5. Björkblom B, Maple-Grødem J, Puno MR, Odell M, Larsen JP, Møller SG.(2014) Reactive oxygen species-mediated DJ-1 monomerization modulates intracellular trafficking involving karyopherin β2. Mol Cell Biol. 34:3024-40.
  6. Patil KS, Basak I, Lee S, Abdullah R, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2014) PARK13 regulates PINK1 and subcellular relocation patterns under oxidative stress in neurons. J Neurosci Res. 92:1167-77.
  7. Basak I, Pal R, Patil K, Dunne A, Ho HP, Peiris D, Maple-Grødem J, Odell M, Chang EJ, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2014) Arabidopsis AtPARK13, which confers thermotolerance, targets misfolded proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 289:14458-69.
  8. Gebriel M, Prabhudesai S, Uleberg KE, Larssen E, Piston D, Bjørnstad AH, Møller SG. (2014) Zebrafish brain proteomics reveals central proteins involved in neurodegeneration. J. Neurosci. Res. 92,104-115.
  9. Pal R, Alves G, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2014) New Insight into Neurodegeneration: the Role of Proteomics. Mol. Neurobiol. 49:1181-99.
  10. Maple J, Gargano D, Møller SG. (2014) Biogenesis of Chloroplasts. In: The Structural Basis of Biological Energy Generation. Hohmann-Marriott MF (ed). Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration Series, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, in press.
  11. Björkblom B, Adilbayeva A, Maple-Grødem J, Piston D, Ökvist M, Xu XM, Brede C, Larsen JP, Møller SG. (2013) Parkinson disease protein DJ-1 binds metals and protects against metal-induced cytotoxicity. J. Biol. Chem. 288, 22809-22820.
  12. Puno MR, Patel NA, Møller SG, Robinson CV, Moody PC, Odell M. (2013) Structure of Cu(I)-Bound DJ-1 Reveals a Biscysteinate Metal Binding Site at the Homodimer Interface: Insights into Mutational Inactivation of DJ-1 in Parkinsonism. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 49:1181-99
  13. Pedersen KF, Alves G, Larsen JP, Tysnes OB, Møller SG, Brønnick K (2012) Psychometric Properties of the Starkstein Apathy Scale in Patients with Early Untreated Parkinson's Disease. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 20, 142-148.
  14. Xu XM, Møller SG (2011). The value of Arabidopsis research in understanding human disease states. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 22, 300-307
  15. Xu XM, Møller SG (2010). SOD removal by DJ-1: Arabidopsis as a new model to understand Parkinson’s Disease. Plant Signalling and Behaviour. 5, 1034-1036
  16. Xu XM, Lin H, Maple J, Björkblom B, Alves G, Larsen JP, Møller SG (2010) Conserved Stress Protective Function of Arabidopsis and Human DJ-1 Linked to Cytosolic SOD Activity. J Cell Science, 123, 1644-1651