Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism

The Laboratory of Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism, led by Dr. Michael N. Sack, focuses on modifications of proteins that play pivotal roles in metabolism and mitochondrial function to understand how these modifications affect disease risk.

Michael Sack, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Investigator Research Interests

Research Interests

The Role of Caloric-Dependent Regulation in the Control of Metabolic and Mitochondrial Homeostasis:

My laboratory focuses on understanding, at the basic and clinical level, how nutrient-sensing programs control immune cell function. At the basic science level my laboratory focusses on the role of the nutrient-sensing Sirtuin enzymes, and a counter-regulatory protein, BLOC1S1/GCN5L1, which modulate mitochondrial and endosome-lysosome functions. In the clinic, we use different caloric-load strategies and/or the NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide riboside, to explore immunometabolism and immunomodulation, in both healthy individuals and in inflammatory/autoimmune disease states. The longer-term goal is to exploit these pathways to blunt inflammation and auto-immunity in human disease.

Clinical Trials and Studies

Recruiting
Adult, Older Adult
Male
Not Accepting Healthy Volunteers
Are you a male with psoriasis or want to help someone with this condition? This study is exploring whether eating only during certain hours of the day (called time-restricted feeding) can change metabolism and reduce inflammation in the blood of people with mild to moderate psoriasis. To participate in this study, you must be a male between the ages of 18 and 80 with active psoriasis, or be a healthy volunteer. This study is located at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Recruiting
All Ages
All Genders
Accepting Healthy Volunteers
Do you or a first-degree relative have a condition that raises the risk of heart disease? This study aims to test the heart and lung function of people who have a genetic or metabolic disease that raises their risk of heart disease. Participants in this study must be between 2 and 100 years old. This study is located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Recruiting
Adult, Older Adult
All Genders
Accepting Healthy Volunteers
Are you able to have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and want to help people with heart failure? This study is developing new methods for imaging the heart and blood vessels using MRI to improve how healthcare providers diagnose people with heart failure. This study takes place in Maryland and Washington, DC.
Recruiting
Adult, Older Adult
Female
Accepting Healthy Volunteers
Are you an adult woman with lupus? In this study, researches will try to determine if an investigational medication is effective in treating lupus in adult women. You must be at least 18 years old. The study will also enroll healthy volunteers who have no history of lupus or other autoimmune disease. The study will take place at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Recruiting
All Ages
All Genders
Not Accepting Healthy Volunteers
Do you or your child have dyslipidemia? This study is exploring how different diagnostic tests can help us understand how lipid disorders, including high blood cholesterol and high blood triglycerides, affect the body. Information from this study may help improve the way lipid disorders are diagnosed or treated in the future. Participants in this study must be at least 2 years old. The study is being conducted in Bethesda, Maryland.

Meet the Team

Michael Sack, M.D., Ph.D.

Michael Sack, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Investigator

Michael Sack graduated with his M.B.B.Ch. and M.Sc. from the University of Witwatersrand and earned his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He did his internship at Johannesburg General Hospital and his internal medicine residency at Georgetown University Medical Center. He conducted cardiology research and did a clinical fellowship at Washington University Medical Center from 1994 to 1997. Dr. Sack joined the NHLBI in 2003. Dr. Sack has authored or coauthored more than 100 papers, editorials, reviews, and book chapters. He currently sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Mitochondrion, Journal of Gerontology, and Drug Discovery Today and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Join Our Lab

Join Our Lab

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Alumni

Iain Scott, Ph.D.

Research Fellow
Iain Scott, Ph.D. is currently a Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh.

Lingdi Wang, Ph.D.

Research Fellow
Lingdi Wang, Ph.D. is currently a Associate Professor at Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.

Javier Traba, Ph.D.

Research Fellow
Javier Traba, Ph.D. is currently a Assistant Professor at Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Kaiyuan Wu, Ph.D.

Research Fellow
Kaiyuan Wu, Ph.D. is currently a Staff Scientist at NHLBI, DIR.