Michael Menze
Assistant Professor
Life Science Building 2029
217.581.6386
mmenze@eiu.edu
Dr. Menze's Web Site
Berkeley Electronic Press SelectedWorks
Dr. Menze finished his PhD in 2001 in the fields of comparative animal physiology and molecular biophysics as part of a joint project between the Institute for Animal Physiology in Düsseldorf and the Institute for Molecular Biophysics in Mainz, Germany. He was fascinated with the complex interactions of small molecules and proteins that increase the ability of crustaceans to survive times of reduced oxygen availability.
Immediately after finishing his PhD he joined the team of Dr. Steven Hand at Louisiana State University, and his research continued to focus on the strategies that animals develop to tolerate extreme environmental insults.
After finishing his postdoctoral training in 2006 he continued to work at Louisiana State University as an Assistant Research Professor until he joined Eastern Illinois University in 2010.
Since 2006, Dr. Menze has maintained a Visiting Scientist Appointment at Harvard Medical School where he developed strong collaborations with Dr. Mehmet Toner at the Center for Engineering in Medicine.
In 2010, Dr. Menze was part of an Expedition to Antarctica where he investigated the molecular adaptations of fish to constant cold. His main research was focused on the question: How can some animals survive intense environmental insults such as complete dehydration, freezing or lack of oxygen on the cellular level?
Broadly, Dr. Menze is interested in the adaptations of extremotolerant animals to environmental insults such as desiccation, freezing and hypoxia. His goal is to elucidate biological principles at the molecular, organelle, cellular and whole animal levels that enable extremotolerant animals to survive environmental insults.
It is becoming clear that adaptations on all levels of biological organization are important for establishing the physical conditions required for cellular protection in eukaryotic extremophiles. What is not understood at all is how these adaptations work together to provide the remarkable tolerance to environmental stress. Understanding the principles that govern life under extreme conditions will likely improve our capabilities of preserving mammalian cells and tissues.
Articles, Book Chapters, Patents
Menze M.A., Banerjee M., Clavenna M., Liu X.H., Toner M. and Hand S.C. (2010). Metabolic preconditioning of cells with AICAR-riboside: improved cryopreservation and cell-type specific impacts on energetics and proliferation. Cryobiology (61): 79-88.
Menze M.A., Fortner G., Nag S,. and Hand S.C. (2010). Mechanisms of apoptosis in Crustacea: what conditions induce versus suppress cell death? Apoptosis 15 (3): 293-313.
Menze M.A., and Hand S.C. (2009). How do animal mitochondria tolerate water stress? Commun. Integr. Biol. 2 (5): 428-430.
Menze M.A., Boswell L., Toner M. and Hand S.C. (2009). Occurrence of mitochondrial-targeted late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) gene in animals increases organelle resistance to water stress. J. Biol. Chem. 284 (16): 10714-10719.
Bauer A., Menze M.A., and Grieshaber M.K. (2009).Thermodynamics of effector binding to hemocyanin: influence of temperature. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 483 (1): 37-44.
He X., Fowler A., Menze M.A., Hand S.C. and Toner M. (2008). Desiccation kinetics and bio-thermodynamics of glass forming trehalose solutions in thin films. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 36: 1428-39.
Hand S.C. and Menze M.A. (2008). Preservation of cells using reversible pore formation. United States Patent 7314755.
Hand S.C and Menze M.A. (2008). Mitochondria under energy-limited states: mechanism that blunt the signaling of cell death. J. Exp. Biol. 211: 1829-1840.
Menze M.A. and Hand S.C. (2007). Caspase activity during cell stasis: avoidance of apoptosis in an invertebrate extremophile, Artemia franciscana. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 292: R2039-R2047.
Menze M.A. Perspectives in Zoophysiology. In: Höhepunkte der Zoologischen Forschung, edited by Waegele J.W., Basilisken-Press, Marburg, 2007, pp. 243-249.
Hand S.C. and Menze M.A. Desiccation stress. In: Encyclopedia of tide pools and rocky shores, edited by Denny M.W. and Gaines S.D., University of California Press, Berkeley, 2007, pp. 173-177.
Hand S.C, Jones D., Menze M.A. and Witt T.L. (2007). Life without water: expression of plant LEA genes by an anhydrobiotic arthropod. J. Exp. Zool. 307 (A): 62–66.
Elliott G., Cusick J., Liu X.H., Menze M.A., Vincent J., Witt T., Hand S. and Toner M. (2006). Trehalose uptake through P2X7 purinergic channels provides desiccation protection. Cryobiology 52 (1): 114-127.
Buchanan S.S., Menze M.A., Hand S.C., Pyatt D.W. and Carpenter J. (2005). Cryopreservation of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells loaded with trehalose: transient permeabilization via the adenosine triphosphate-dependent P2Z receptor channel. Cell Preservation Technology 3 (4): 212-222.
Liu X.H., Akasan A., Menze M.A., Hand S.C. and Toner M. (2005). Trehalose loading through the mitochondrial permeability transition pore enhances desiccation tolerance in rat liver mitochondria. Biochim. Biophys. Acta.1717 (1): 21–26.
Menze M.A., Hellmann N., Decker H. and Grieshaber M.K. (2005). Allosteric models for multimeric proteins: Oxygen-linked effector binding in hemocyanin. Biochemistry 44 (30): 10328-10338.
Menze M.A., Hutchinson K., Laborde S.M. and Hand S.C. (2005). Mitochondrial permeability transition in the crustacean Artemia franciscana: Absence of a Ca2+-regulated pore in the face of profound calcium storage. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 289 (1): R68-R76.
Menze M.A., Clavenna M. and Hand S.C. (2005). Depression of cell metabolism and proliferation by membrane permeable and impermeable modulators: Role for AMP:ATP ratio. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 288 (2): R501-R510.
Menze M.A. Analyse der Regulation von Haemocyanin durch Urat beim europäischen Hummer (Homarus vulgaris), Berichte aus der Biologie, Shaker Verlag, Aachen, 2001.
Menze M.A., Hellmann N., Decker H. and Grieshaber M.K. (2001). Binding of urate and caffeine to hemocyanin analyzed by isothermal titration calorimetry. J. Exp. Biol. 204: 1033-1038.
Menze M.A., Hellmann N., Decker H. and Grieshaber M.K. (2000). Binding of urate and caffeine to hemocyanin of the lobster Homarus vulgaris as studied by isothermal titration calorimetry. Biochemistry 39 (35): 10806-10811.
