CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Current Position

Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Education and degrees

- 1987 - M.Sc., Biology/Molecular biology, Warsaw University, Poland,

- 1993 -  Ph.D., Biochemistry, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, Polish Academy of Science,

-  2008 - D.Sc., Biochemistry, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, Polish Academy of Science,

-  2018, Full Professor.

 Positions and scientific experience

- 1987-1993, research assistant, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw,

- 1990, 1991, visiting scientist, Medical University in Pecs, Central Laboratory, Pecs, Hungary,

- 1990, visiting scientist, Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Science, Sankt Petersburg, Russia,

- 1993, visiting scientist, Sydney University, Dept. of Anatomy Muscle Research Unit, Sydney, Australia,

- 1994-1997, Adjunct researcher, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw,

- 1997-2000, post-doctoral fellow, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, USA,

- 2000-2008, Assistant professor, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz,

- 2004-2008, The Wellcome Trust fellow,

- 2009-2018, Associate professor, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz,

- 2017, visiting scientist, Washington State University, Pullman WA, USA, ,

- 2023, visiting sceintist, Medical University in Pecs, Hungary

- since 2018 - Professor, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz.

 Scientific interests

- thin filament regulation in muscle and non-muscle cells,

- role of tropomyosin isoforms in functional diversification of actin filaments,

- tropomyosin elasticity as a molecular mechanism of actin filament regulation,

- molecular mechanisms of actin filament dynamics regulation by muscle and non-muscle isoforms of cofilin, fascin, tropomodulin,

- cooperative and allosteric transmission of functional conformational changes in microfilaments,

- effects of myopathy-causing missense mutations in tropomyosin and cofilin on the thin filament functions,

- involvement of actin-binding proteins in methastasis of osteosarcoma.

 Experimental techniques

- muscle proteins isolation and purification,

- expression and purification of recombinant proteins in prokaryotic systems,

- site-directed mutagenesis,

- ELISA,

- Western Blot,

- limited proteolysis, FAST,

- enzymatic assays (e.g. actin and myosin ATPase activity),

- protein labeling and chemical modifications,

- steady state fluorescence and kinetic measurements, fluorescence anisotropy, Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET),

- in vitro motility assay.

 Professional memberships

Polish Biochemical Society:

- 2012-2022 Member of the Executive Board

- since 2023 - Chair of the Commitee of Drabikowski Award for the best doctoral dissertation in biochemistry

- since 2004 - Chair of the section 'Molecular mechanisms of motility'.

European Society for Muscloe Research

Organization of scientific conferences

 - 2011, Congress of Polish Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Kraków 2011, Member of Scientific Committee, Chair of international session on “Molecular mechanisms of cell motility”,

- 2013, 48^th Annual Meeting of Polish Biochemical Society, Toruń 2013, Chair of Scientific Committee and Chair of session on “Cellular motility in pathology”,

- 2015, European Muscle Conference, Warsaw Member of the Organizing Committee and Chair of session on “Acto-myosin interactions“,

- 2019,The 44th FEBS Congress, Kraków, Chair of the session „Cytoskeleton and molecular mechanisms of motility”,

- 2021, Virtual European Muscle Conference, Chair of the session „Regulation and kinetics of thick-thin filament interaction”.

- 2022, The first conference "Actin and Actin-Binding Proteins in Health and Disease". Bydgoszcz. Chair of the Organizing and Scientific Committee.

Member of Editorial Board

- 2024, Cytoskeleton (Whiley) guest editor of Special Issue on ”Myosin and myosin-dependent cellular functions, 

- since 2023, Cytoskeleton (Whiley),

- since 2021, Acta Biochimica Polonica (Frontiers),

- since 2014, Peer Journal.

 Teaching experience

- Lecturer, instructor and examiner in several courses (e.g. Biochemistry, Enzymology, Metabolism, Biochemistry of proteins and nucleic acids, Techniques in biochemistry, Techniques in fluorescence, Molecular mechanisms of cellular motility) for undergraduate and graduate students,

- supervisor of experimental diploma work of graduate students (master degree),

- supervisor of PhD students.

 Non-scientific interests and leisure activities

- Hiking, cycling and swimming,

- Opera, classical music, and jazz (listening),

- Good fiction (reading),

- Gardening.

 

MOST IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS

EXPERIMENTAL WORK:

 Śliwińska M., Żukowska M., Borys D., Moraczewska J. (2011) Different positions of tropomyosin on actin filament are determined by specific overlaps of end-to-end overlaps. Cytoskeleton 68, 300-312.

Robaszkiewicz K., Dudek E., Kasprzak, A.A., Moraczewska J. (2012) Functional effects of congenital myopathy related mutations in gamma-tropomyosin gene. Biochim.Biophys.Acta - Mol. Basis Dis.1822, 1562-1569.

Jurewicz E., Ostrowska Z., Jóźwiak J., Rędowicz M.J., Leśniak W., Moraczewska J., Filipek A. (2013) CacyBP/SIP as a novel modulator of the thin filament. Biochim. Biophys. Acta – Mol. Cell Res. 1833, 761-766.

Śliwińska M, Moraczewska J. (2013) Structural differences between C-terminal regions of tropomyosin isoforms. PeerJ. Oct 15;1:e181.

Robaszkiewicz K., Ostrowska Z., Cyranka-Czaja A., Moraczewska J. (2015) Impaired tropomyosin-troponin interactions reduce activation of the actin thin filament Biochim.Biophys. Acta – Prot. Proteom.1854, 381-390.

Robaszkiewicz K, Ostrowska Z, Marchlewicz K, Moraczewska J. (2016) Tropomyosin isoforms differentially modulate the regulation of actin filament polymerization and depolymerization by cofilins. FEBS J. 283(4):723-737.

Borovikov YS, Rysev NA, Chernev AA, Avrova SV, Karpicheva OE, Borys D, Śliwińska M, Moraczewska J. (2016) Abnormal movement of tropomyosin and response of myosin heads and actin during the ATPase cycle caused by the Arg167His, Arg167Gly and Lys168Glu mutations in TPM1 gene. Arch Biochem Biophys. 606:157-166.

Ostrowska Z, Robaszkiewicz K, Moraczewska J. (2017) Regulation of actin filament turnover by cofilin-1 and cytoplasmic tropomyosin isoforms. Biochim Biophys Acta – Prot. Proteom. 1865 (1): 88-98. doi: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2016.09.019.

Śliwinska M, Robaszkiewicz K, Czajkowska M, Zheng W, Moraczewska J. (2018) Functional effects of substitutions I92T and V95A in actin-binding period 3 of tropomyosin. Biochim Biophys Acta. – Prot. Proteom. 1866 (4): 558-568.

Moraczewska J, Robaszkiewicz K, Śliwinska M, Czajkowska M, Ly T, Kostyukova A, Wen H, Zheng W. (2019) Congenital myopathy-related mutations in tropomyosin disrupt regulatory function through altered actin affinity and tropomodulin binding. FEBS J. 286(10):1877-1893. doi: 10.1111/febs.14787.

Ostrowska-Podhorodecka Z, Śliwinska M, Reisler E. Moraczewska J (2020) Tropomyosin Isoforms Regulate Cofilin 1 Activity by Modulating Actin Filament Conformation. Arch Biochem Biophys 682, 108280, DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2020.108280    

Jurewicz E, Robaszkiewicz K, Moraczewska J, Filipek A. (2020) Binding of S100A6 to actin and the actin-tropomyosin complex. Sci Rep. 10 (1):12824. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69752-y.

Robaszkiewicz K, Śliwinska M, Moraczewska J. (2020) Regulation of Actin Filament Length by Muscle Isoforms of Tropomyosin and Cofilin. Int J Mol Sci. 21 (12):4285; https://doi: 10.3390/ijms21124285

Śliwinska, M., Robaszkiewicz, K., Wasąg, P., Moraczewska, J. (2021) Mutations Q93G and E97K in TPM2 disrupt Ca-dependent regulation of actin filaments. Int J Mol Sci. 22(8), 4036; doi.org/10.3390/ijms22084036

Robaszkiewicz K., Jurewicz E., Moraczewska J., Filipek A. (2021) Ca^{2+ -}dependent binding of S100A6 to cofilin-1 regulates actin filament polymerization-depolymerization dynamics. Cell Calcium 99:102457. doi: 10.1016/j.ceca.2021.102457

Kuruba B., Kaczmarek M., Kęsik-Brodacka M., Fojutowska M., Śliwinska M., Kostyukova A., Moraczewska J. (2021) Structural Effects of Disease-Related Mutations in Actin-Binding Period 3 of Tropomyosin. Molecules 26 (22) 6980.

Katarzyna Robaszkiewicz , Małgorzata Siatkowska , Renske I Wadman, Erik-Jan Kamsteeg, Zhiyong Chen, Ashirwad Merve, Matthew Parton, Enrico Bugiardini, Charlotte de Bie, Joanna Moraczewska(2023)A Novel Variant in TPM3 Causing Muscle Weakness and Concomitant Hypercontractile Phenotype. Int J Mol Sci 24 (22): 16147. doi: 10.3390/ijms242216147.

Katarzyna Robaszkiewicz, Julia Wróbel, Joanna Moraczewska(2023) Troponin and a Myopathy-Linked Mutation in TPM3 Inhibit Cofilin-2-Induced Thin Filament Depolymerization. Int J Mol Sci 24(22):16457. doi: 10.3390/ijms242216457.

Recep Küçükdogru, Peter Franz, Remigiusz Worch, Katarzyna Robaszkiewicz, Małgorzata Siatkowska, Georgios Tsiavaliaris, Joanna Moraczewska (2024) Mechanochemical consequences of myopathy-linked mutations in Tpm2.2 on striated muscle contractility. FASEB J 38(1):e23400. doi: 10.1096/fj.202301604R.

 

REVIEW AND PERSPECTIVE

Moraczewska J. (2020) Thin filament dysfunctions caused by mutations in tropomyosin Tpm3.12 and Tpm1.1. J Muscle Res Cell Motil., 41 (1), 39-53. doi: 10.1007/s10974-019-09532-y.

Joanna Moraczewska, Paul Trevorrow (2023) An interview with Joanna Moraczewska-Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken) 80 (5-6):95-97. doi: 10.1002/cm.21746.

Moraczewska J. (2022) First conference "Actin and actin-binding proteins in health and disease": Meeting report. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken). 2022 Dec 29. doi: 10.1002/cm.21739.