Melanie McReynolds
Huck Early Career Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
-
119 Huck Life Sciences
University Park, PA - She/Her
- mrm45@psu.edu
- 814-865-0919
Research Summary
The biochemistry behind aging and its intersection with stress, with the long-term goal of identifying strategies that promote healthier aging.
Huck Graduate Students
Huck Affiliations
- Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences
- Center for Cellular Dynamics
- Integrative and Biomedical Physiology
Links
Most Recent Publications
Human genetics identify convergent signals in mitochondrial LACTB-mediated lipid metabolism in cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome
Shen Li, Hongbo Liu, Hailong Hu, Eunji Ha, Praveena Prasad, Brenita C. Jenkins, Ujjalkumar Subhash Das, Sarmistha Mukherjee, Kyosuke Shishikura, Renming Hu, Daniel J. Rader, Liming Pei, Joseph A. Baur, Megan L. Matthews, Garret A. FitzGerald, Melanie R. McReynolds, Katalin Susztak, 2025, Cell Metabolism on p. 154-168.e7
10 degree C static storage of porcine donation after circulatory death livers improves biliary viability and mitigates ischemia-reperfusion injury
Kaitlyn M. Tracy, Yutaka Shishido, Mark Petrovic, Alexandria Murphy, Ti Oluwanimi Adesanya, Avery K. Fortier, Timothy R. Harris, Michael Cortelli, William D. Tucker, Sean A. François, Brandon Petree, Kimya Raietparvar, Victoria Simon, Carl A. Johnson, Elizabeth Simonds, John Poland, Gabriella A. Glomp, Christian Crannell, Jiancong Liang, Andrea Marshall, Antentor Hinton, Ciara M. Shaver, Caitlin T. Demarest, Rei Ukita, Ashish S. Shah, Michael Rizzari, Martin Montenovo, Muhammad Ameen Rauf, Melanie McReynolds, Matthew Bacchetta, 2025, American Journal of Transplantation
Quantitative assessment of morphological changes in lipid droplets and lipid–mito interactions with aging in brown adipose
Amber Crabtree, Kit Neikirk, Julia A. Pinette, Aaron Whiteside, Bryanna Shao, Jessica Bedenbaugh, Zer Vue, Larry Vang, Han Le, Mert Demirci, Taseer Ahmad, Trinity Celeste Owens, Ashton Oliver, Faben Zeleke, Heather K. Beasley, Edgar Garza Lopez, Estevão Scudese, Taylor Rodman, Kinuthia Kabugi, Alice Koh, Suzanne Navarro, Jacob Lam, Ben Kirk, Margaret Mungai, Mariya Sweetwyne, Ho Jin Koh, Elma Zaganjor, Steven M. Damo, Jennifer A. Gaddy, Annet Kirabo, Sandra A. Murray, Anthonya Cooper, Clintoria Williams, Melanie R. McReynolds, Andrea G. Marshall, Antentor Hinton, 2024, Journal of Cellular Physiology
Restoring hippocampal glucose metabolism rescues cognition across Alzheimer's disease pathologies
Paras S. Minhas, Jeffrey R. Jones, Amira Latif-Hernandez, Yuki Sugiura, Aarooran S. Durairaj, Qian Wang, Siddhita D. Mhatre, Takeshi Uenaka, Joshua Crapser, Travis Conley, Hannah Ennerfelt, Yoo Jin Jung, Ling Liu, Praveena Prasad, Brenita C. Jenkins, Yeonglong Albert Ay, Matthew Matrongolo, Ryan Goodman, Traci Newmeyer, Kelly Heard, Austin Kang, Edward N. Wilson, Tao Yang, Erik M. Ullian, Geidy E. Serrano, Thomas G. Beach, Marius Wernig, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Makoto Suematsu, Frank M. Longo, Melanie R. McReynolds, Fred H. Gage, Katrin I. Andreasson, 2024, Science on p. eabm6131
Ablation of Sam50 is associated with fragmentation and alterations in metabolism in murine and human myotubes
Bryanna Shao, Mason Killion, Ashton Oliver, Chia Vang, Faben Zeleke, Kit Neikirk, Zer Vue, Edgar Garza-Lopez, Jian qiang Shao, Margaret Mungai, Jacob Lam, Qiana Williams, Christopher T. Altamura, Aaron Whiteside, Kinuthia Kabugi, Jessica McKenzie, Maria Ezedimma, Han Le, Alice Koh, Estevão Scudese, Larry Vang, Andrea G. Marshall, Amber Crabtree, Janelle I. Tanghal, Dominique Stephens, Ho Jin Koh, Brenita C. Jenkins, Sandra A. Murray, Anthonya T. Cooper, Clintoria Williams, Steven M. Damo, Melanie R. McReynolds, Jennifer A. Gaddy, Celestine N. Wanjalla, Heather K. Beasley, Antentor Hinton, 2024, Journal of Cellular Physiology
The graduate school guide: How to prepare for the qualifying exam and assemble a thesis/graduate committee
Crystal D. Rogers, Annet Kirabo, Melanie McReynolds, Mariya T. Sweetwyne, Celestine Wanjalla, Jazmine Benjamin, Edith M. Williams, Jennifer A. Gaddy, Clintoria R. Williams, Steven M. Damo, Sandra A. Murray, Antentor Hinton, 2024, Journal of Cellular Physiology
Running a successful STEMM summer program: A week-by-week guide
Heather K. Beasley, Zer Vue, Melanie R. McReynolds, Edgar Garza-Lopez, Kit Neikirk, Margaret Mungai, Andrea G. Marshall, Bryanna Shao, Jazmine I. Benjamin, Celestine N. Wanjalla, Clintoria R. Williams, Sandra A. Murray, Valerie K. Jordan, Haysetta D. Shuler, Annet Kirabo, Antentor Hinton, 2024, Journal of Cellular Physiology
A review of undergraduate research programs aimed at underrepresented students
Heather K. Beasley, Zer Vue, Melanie R. McReynolds, Kit Neikirk, Edgar Garza-Lopez, Margaret Mungai, Andrea G. Marshall, Bryanna Shao, Jazmine Benjamin, Celestine N. Wanjalla, Clintoria R. Williams, Sandra A. Murray, Haysetta D. Shuler, Annet Kirabo, Antentor Hinton, 2024, STAR Protocols
TREM1 disrupts myeloid bioenergetics and cognitive function in aging and Alzheimer disease mouse models
Edward N. Wilson, Congcong Wang, Michelle S. Swarovski, Kristy A. Zera, Hannah E. Ennerfelt, Qian Wang, Aisling Chaney, Esha Gauba, Javier A. Ramos Benitez, Yann Le Guen, Paras S. Minhas, Maharshi Panchal, Yuting J. Tan, Eran Blacher, Chinyere A. Iweka, Haley Cropper, Poorva Jain, Qingkun Liu, Swapnil S. Mehta, Abigail J. Zuckerman, Matthew Xin, Jacob Umans, Jolie Huang, Aarooran S. Durairaj, Geidy E. Serrano, Thomas G. Beach, Michael D. Greicius, Michelle L. James, Marion S. Buckwalter, Melanie R. McReynolds, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Katrin I. Andreasson, 2024, Nature Neuroscience on p. 873-885
Mitochondria in disease: changes in shapes and dynamics
Brenita C. Jenkins, Kit Neikirk, Prasanna Katti, Steven M. Claypool, Annet Kirabo, Melanie R. McReynolds, Antentor Hinton, 2024, Trends in Biochemical Sciences on p. 346-360
Most-Cited Papers
Restoring metabolism of myeloid cells reverses cognitive decline in ageing
Paras S. Minhas, Amira Latif-Hernandez, Melanie R. McReynolds, Aarooran S. Durairaj, Qian Wang, Amanda Rubin, Amit U. Joshi, Joy Q. He, Esha Gauba, Ling Liu, Congcong Wang, Miles Linde, Yuki Sugiura, Peter K. Moon, Ravi Majeti, Makoto Suematsu, Daria Mochly-Rosen, Irving L. Weissman, Frank M. Longo, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Katrin I. Andreasson, 2021, Nature on p. 122-128
CD38 ecto-enzyme in immune cells is induced during aging and regulates NAD<sup>+</sup> and NMN levels
Claudia C.S. Chini, Thais R. Peclat, Gina M. Warner, Sonu Kashyap, Jair Machado Espindola-Netto, Guilherme C. de Oliveira, Lilian S. Gomez, Kelly A. Hogan, Mariana G. Tarragó, Amrutesh S. Puranik, Guillermo Agorrody, Katie L. Thompson, Kevin Dang, Starlynn Clarke, Bennett G. Childs, Karina S. Kanamori, Micaela A. Witte, Paola Vidal, Anna L. Kirkland, Marco De Cecco, Karthikeyani Chellappa, Melanie R. McReynolds, Connor Jankowski, Tamara Tchkonia, James L. Kirkland, John M. Sedivy, Jan M. van Deursen, Darren J. Baker, Wim van Schooten, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Joseph A. Baur, Eduardo N. Chini, 2020, Nature Metabolism on p. 1284-1304
SLC25A51 is a mammalian mitochondrial NAD<sup>+</sup> transporter
Timothy S. Luongo, Jared M. Eller, Mu Jie Lu, Marc Niere, Fabio Raith, Caroline Perry, Marc R. Bornstein, Paul Oliphint, Lin Wang, Melanie R. McReynolds, Marie E. Migaud, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, F. Brad Johnson, Kai Johnsson, Mathias Ziegler, Xiaolu A. Cambronne, Joseph A. Baur, 2020, Nature on p. 174-179
Metabolite discovery through global annotation of untargeted metabolomics data
Li Chen, Wenyun Lu, Lin Wang, Xi Xing, Ziyang Chen, Xin Teng, Xianfeng Zeng, Antonio D. Muscarella, Yihui Shen, Alexis Cowan, Melanie R. McReynolds, Brandon J. Kennedy, Ashley M. Lato, Shawn R. Campagna, Mona Singh, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, 2021, Nature Methods on p. 1377-1385
Serine Catabolism Feeds NADH when Respiration Is Impaired
Lifeng Yang, Juan Carlos Garcia Canaveras, Zihong Chen, Lin Wang, Lingfan Liang, Cholsoon Jang, Johannes A. Mayr, Zhaoyue Zhang, Jonathan M. Ghergurovich, Le Zhan, Shilpy Joshi, Zhixian Hu, Melanie R. McReynolds, Xiaoyang Su, Eileen White, Raphael J. Morscher, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, 2020, Cell Metabolism on p. 809-821.e6
Acoustofluidic Rotational Manipulation of Cells and Organisms Using Oscillating Solid Structures
Adem Ozcelik, Nitesh Nama, Po-Hsun Huang, Murat Kaynak, Melanie McReynolds, Wendy Hanna-Rose, Tony Huang, 2016, Small on p. 5120-5125
Age-related NAD<sup>+</sup> decline
Melanie R. McReynolds, Karthikeyani Chellappa, Joseph A. Baur, 2020, Experimental Gerontology
Spatially resolved isotope tracing reveals tissue metabolic activity
Lin Wang, Xi Xing, Xianfeng Zeng, S. Ra Elle Jackson, Tara TeSlaa, Osama Al-Dalahmah, Laith Z. Samarah, Katharine Goodwin, Lifeng Yang, Melanie R. McReynolds, Xiaoxuan Li, Jeremy J. Wolff, Joshua D. Rabinowitz, Shawn M. Davidson, 2022, Nature Methods on p. 223-230
Cell size is a determinant of stem cell potential during aging
Jette Lengefeld, Chia Wei Cheng, Pema Maretich, Marguerite Blair, Hannah Hagen, Melanie R. McReynolds, Emily Sullivan, Kyra Majors, Christina Roberts, Joon Ho Kang, Joachim D. Steiner, Teemu P. Miettinen, Scott R. Manalis, Adam Antebi, Sean J. Morrison, Jacqueline A. Lees, Laurie A. Boyer, Ömer H. Yilmaz, Angelika Amon, 2021, Science advances
Patching the Leaks: Revitalizing and Reimagining the STEM Pipeline
Antentor O. Hinton, Christina M. Termini, Elsie C. Spencer, Florentine U.N. Rutaganira, Daphney Chery, Re Ana Roby, Zer Vue, Angela D. Pack, Lillian J. Brady, Edgar Garza-Lopez, Andrea G. Marshall, Samantha C. Lewis, Haysetta D. Shuler, Brittany L. Taylor, Melanie R. McReynolds, Caroline B. Palavicino-Maggio, 2020, Cell on p. 568-575
News Articles Featuring Melanie McReynolds
Sep 12, 2024
Penn State professor part of team finding potential new way to treat Alzheimer's
A team of scientists, including researchers from Penn State, have found that a drug being developed for cancer treatment could also lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
Full Article
Aug 23, 2024
What links aging and disease? A growing body of research says it’s a faulty metabolism
Aging is a biological process that no one can avoid. Ideally, growing old should be a time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Aging also has a darker side, however, often linked to disease.
Full Article
Aug 22, 2024
Cancer drug could treat early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, study shows
A type of drug developed for treating cancer holds promise as a new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, according to a recent study by researchers at Penn State, Stanford University and an international team of collaborators.
Full Article
Sep 15, 2023
Seed grants fund research collaborations with minority-serving institutions
The first awardees of Penn State’s new Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research (IDPR) initiative have been selected, comprising a total of 16 collaborative projects that connect Penn State researchers with colleagues from minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
Full Article