Mitchell Omar

Assistant Professor, Human Health and Disease

Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Main Office: (775) 784-1327
Email: momar@unr.edu
Building: HMS
Room: 154
Mailstop: 330

Summary

My interests focus on molecular organization in human health and disease. With a billion proteins packed into a cell, cross-talk and non-specific interactions should dominate. However, cells have evolved subcellular organizational strategies to overcome this. Two crucial strategies are protein complexes and subcellular recruitment.

How do protein complexes provide the spatial and temporal compartmentalization needed to accomplish cellular processes?

How do mutations that disrupt this organization cause disease?

Our current efforts are working to understand the molecular events and regulatory elements that underlie stress hormone production by the adrenal glands. Other projects will investigate how protein kinase A regulation impacts tumor growth and neuronal function. Commonly used techniques include classic molecular biology and cell culture as well as live-cell fluorescent imaging, proximity proteomics, and CRISPR gene-editing. Ultimately, the Omar lab intends to reveal cellular and molecular mechanisms governing vital physiology and to identify new strategies to ameliorate and prevent human disease.

Education

B.A. English, Minnesota State University Moorhead, 2007
B.S. Biology, University of Iowa, 2011
Ph.D. Neuroscience, Yale University, 2017

Publications

Book Chapter(s)

Biochemical Analysis of AKAPanchored PKA Signaling Complexes

2022

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, NJ). cAMP Signaling: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition. Manuela Zaccolo, ed.

Byrne D.P., Omar M.H., Kennedy E.J., Eyers P.A., Scott J.D.

Journals

Discovery of a Cushing’s syndrome protein kinase A mutant that biases signaling through type I AKAPs

2024

Science Advances, Vol. 10 Issue 8

Mitchell H. Omar, Dominic P. Byrne, Safal Shrestha, Tyler M. Lakey, Kyung-Soon Lee, Sophia M. Lauer, Kerrie B. Collins, Leonard A. Daly, Claire E. Eyers, Geoffrey S. Baird, Shao-En Ong, Natarajan Kannan, Patrick A. Eyers, John D. Scott

Recruitment of BAG2 to DNAJ-PKAc scaffolds promotes cell survival and resistance to drug-induced apoptosis in fibrolamellar carcinoma

2024

Cell Reports, Vol. 43 Issue 2

Lauer, S.M., Omar, M.H., Golkowski M., Kenerson H.L., Pascual B.C., Forbush K., Smith F.D., Gordon J., Ong S.-E., Yeung R.S., Scott J.D

Classification of Cushing’s syndrome PKAc mutants based upon their ability to bind PKI.

2023

Biochemical Journal 480(12):875-890

Omar M.H.*, Kihiu M.* (*co-first authors), Byrne D.P., Lee K.-S., Lakey T.M., Butcher E., Eyers P.A., Scott J.D.

Proximity biotinylation to define the local environment of the protein kinase A catalytic subunit in adrenal cells

2023

STAR Protocols 4(1):101992

Omar M.H., Lauer S.M., Lau H.-T., Golkowski M., Ong S.-E., Scott J.D.

Mislocalization of protein kinase A drives pathology in Cushing’s syndrome

2022

Cell Reports 40. 10.1016

Omar M.H., et.al.

Targeting an anchored phosphatase-deacetylase unit restores renal ciliary homeostasis

2021

eLife 10, e67828

Gopalan J., Omar M.H., Roy A., Cruz N.M., Falcone J., Jones K.N., Forbush K.A., Himmelfarb J., Freedman B.S., Scott J.D.

AKAP Signaling Islands: Venues for Precision Pharmacology

2020

Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 41, 933-946

Omar M.H., Scott J.D.

An acquired scaffolding function of the DNAJ-PKAc fusion contributes to oncogenic signaling in fibrolamellar carcinoma.

2019

eLife 8:e44187

Turnham R.E., Smith F.D., Kenerson H.L., Omar M.H., Golkowski M., Garcia I., Bauer R., Lau H.-T., Sullivan K.M., Langeberg L.K., Ong S.-E., Riehle K.J., Yeung R.S., Scott J.D.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms alter kinase anchoring and the subcellular targeting of A-kinase anchoring proteins.

2018

PNAS, 115 (49) E11465-E11474

Smith F.D., Omar M.H., Nygren P.J., Soughayer J., Hoshi N., Lau H.-T., Snyder C.G., Branon T.C., Ghosh D., Langeberg L.K., Ting A.Y., Santana L.F., Ong S.-E., Navedo M.F., Scott J.D.

CNS Neurons Deposit Laminin a5 to Stabilize Synapses

2017

Cell Reports

Omar, M.H., Campbell, M.K., Xiao, X., Zhong, Q., Brunken, W.J., Miner, J.H., Greer, C.A., and Koleske, A.J.

Corticosteroid-induced dendrite loss and behavioral deficiencies can be blocked by activation of Abl2/Arg kinase.

2017

Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

Shapiro L.P.*, Omar M.H.* (*co-first authors), Koleske A.J., Gourley S.L.

Long-Term Live-Cell STED Nanoscopy of Primary and Cultured Cells with the Plasma Membrane HIDE Probe DiI-SiR.

2017

Angewandte Chemie

Thompson A.D., Omar M.H., Rivera-Molina F., Xi Z., Koleske A.J., Derek Toomre D., Schepartz A.

Reciprocal stabilization of ABL and TAZ regulates osteoblastogenesis through transcription factor RUNX2.

2016

Journal of Clinical Investigation

Matsumoto Y., La Rose J., Kent O.A., Wagner M.J., Narimatsu M., Levy A.D., Omar M.H., Tong J., Krieger J.R., Riggs E., Storozhuk Y., Pasquale J., Ventura M., Yeganeh B., Post M., Moran M.F., Grynpas M.D., Wrana J.L., Superti-Furga G., Koleske A.J., Pendergast A.M., Rottapel R.

Extracellular matrix control of dendritic spine and synapse structure and plasticity in adulthood.

2014

Frontiers in Neuroanatomy

Levy A.D.*, Omar M.H.* (*co-first authors), Koleske, A. J.