Head of the Laboratory of Neurodegeneration at IIMCB; ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences; member of the National Science Centre Council (2018-2022); director of IIMCB in 2000-2018.Degrees: full Professor of Republic of Poland (1993); habilitation (1987) and PhD (1980) at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS in Warsaw; MSc in biochemistry (1976) in the Faculty of Biology, Warsaw University. Postdoc:  NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA (1981-1984); visiting professor: NIMH, Bethesda (1992-1995), Leiden University (2014), University of Cambridge (2015), NICHD, Bethesda (2018); Head of the Calcium Binding Proteins Laboratory, Nencki Institute (1996-2002); organizer and director of the Polish Centenarians Program (1999-2001).Laureate of many awards and honors, i.a.Officer's and Knight’s Crosses of the Order of  Polonia Restitutaawarded by the President of the Republic of Poland(2008 and 1998), member of national and international organizations and societies. Leader of research projects, i.e. in H2020 WIDESPREAD-ERA Chairs: MOSaIC,FP7: FishMed, HEALTH-PROT, COMBIOM, ERA-NET NEURON - NeuConnect, ERA-NET RUS - TargetSOCE, in FP6: PROMEMORIA, APOPIS, and in FP5: Director of Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biomedicine.Supervisor of 14 Ph.D. theses.

His main research interests are: molecular neurobiology, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, calcium homeostasis, aging and longevity.

Prof. Kuźnicki is a co-author of over 130 publications in journals from JCR list; H-index=38; co-author of 3 patents and 1 patent application. 

Patents/patent applications:

1. Patent application 2016 (P.416956)„Panel of microRNA biomarkers in blood for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease”, inventors: U. Wojda (PL), K. Laskowska-Kaszub (PL), T. Gabryelewicz (PL), J. Kuznicki (PL). The invention is a result of BIOMARKAPD project; publication: Nagaraj S, Laskowska-Kaszub K, Dębski KJ, Wojsiat J, Dąbrowski M, Gabryelewicz T, Kuznicki J, Wojda U. Profile of 6 microRNA in blood plasma distinguish early stage Alzheimer's disease patients from non-demented subjects. Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 7;8(10):16122-16143. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15109.
2. Patent 2013 (WO 2013/139929 A1) “Novel means and methods for treating diseases of the central nervous system, metabolic and cardiac diseases and aging”, inventors: K. Honarnejad (DE), A. Daschner (DE), J. Herms (DE), F.Bracher (DE), J. Kuznicki (PL), A.P. Gehring (DE). The invention is a result of Polish-German grant with J. Herms.

Selected publications from 2010-2020:

• Wasilewska I, Gupta RK, Wojtas B, Palchevska O, Kuznicki J. stim2b Knockout Induces Hyperactivity and Susceptibility to Seizures in Zebrafish Larvae. Cells. 2020;9(5):E1285. Published 2020 May 21. doi:10.3390/cells9051285.
• Dey K, Bazala MA, Kuznicki J. Targeting mitochondrial calcium pathways as a potential treatment against Parkinson's disease [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 16]. Cell Calcium. 2020;89:102216. doi:10.1016/j.ceca.2020.102216.
• Majewski L, Maciąg F, Boguszewski PM, Kuznicki J. Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Human STIM2 and ORAI1 in Neurons Exhibit Changes in Behavior and Calcium Homeostasis but Show No Signs of Neurodegeneration. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Jan 28;21(3). pii: E842. doi: 10.3390/ijms21030842.
• Gruszczynska-Biegala J, Strucinska K, Maciag F, Majewski L, Sladowska M, Kuznicki J. STIM Protein-NMDA2 Receptor Interaction Decreases NMDA-Dependent Calcium Levels in Cortical Neurons. Cells. 2020 Jan 9;9(1). pii: E160. doi: 10.3390/cells9010160.
• Majewski L, Wojtas B, Maciąg F, Kuznicki J. Changes in Calcium Homeostasis and Gene Expression Implicated in Epilepsy in Hippocampi of Mice Overexpressing ORAI1. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Nov 6;20(22). pii: E5539. doi: 10.3390/ijms20225539.
• Soman SK, Bazała M, Keatinge M, Bandmann O, Kuznicki J. Restriction of mitochondrial calcium overload by mcu inactivation renders a neuroprotective effect in zebrafish models of Parkinson's disease. Biol Open. 2019 Oct 15;8(10). pii: bio044347. doi: 10.1242/bio.044347.
• Wasilewska I, Gupta RK, Palchevska O, Kuźnicki J. Identification of Zebrafish Calcium Toolkit Genes and their Expression in the Brain. Genes (Basel). 2019 Mar 18;10(3). pii: E230. doi: 10.3390/genes10030230.
• Maciąg F, Majewski Ł, Boguszewski PM, Gupta RK, Wasilewska I, Wojtaś B, Kuznicki J. Behavioral and electrophysiological changes in female mice overexpressing ORAI1 in neurons. Biochim Biophys Acta - Mol Cell Res. 2019 Jul;1866(7):1137-1150. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2019.01.007. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
• Czeredys M, Vigont VA, Boeva VA, Mikoshiba K, Kaznacheyeva EV, Kuznicki J. Huntingtin-Associated Protein 1A Regulates Store-Operated Calcium Entry in Medium Spiny Neurons From Transgenic YAC128 Mice, a Model of Huntington's Disease. Front Cell Neurosci. 2018 Oct 26;12:381. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00381. eCollection 2018.
• Wegierski T, Kuznicki J. Neuronal calcium signaling via store-operated channels in health and disease. Cell Calcium. 2018 Jul 7;74:102-111. doi: 10.1016/j.ceca.2018.07.001. [Epub ahead of print] Review.
• Gazda K, Kuznicki J, Wegierski T. Knockdown of amyloid precursor protein increases calcium levels in the endoplasmic reticulum. Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 6;7(1):14512. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-15166-2.
• Majewski Ł, Maciąg F, Boguszewski PM, Wasilewska I, Wiera G, Wójtowicz T, Mozrzymas J, Kuznicki J. Overexpression of STIM1 in neurons in mouse brain improves contextual learning and impairs long-term depression. BiochimBiophys Acta - Mol Cell Res. 2017 Jun;1864(6):1071-1087. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2016.11.025. Epub 2016 Nov 29.
• Nagaraj S, Laskowska-Kaszub K, Dębski KJ, Wojsiat J, Dąbrowski M, Gabryelewicz T, Kuznicki J, Wojda U. Profile of 6 microRNA in blood plasma distinguish early stage Alzheimer's disease patients from non-demented subjects. Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 7;8(10):16122-16143. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15109.
• Misztal K, Brozko N, Nagalski A, Szewczyk LM, Krolak M, Brzozowska K, Kuznicki J, Wisniewska MB. TCF7L2 mediates the cellular and behavioral response to chronic lithium treatment in animal models. Neuropharmacology. 2017 Feb;113(PtA):490-501. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.10.027.
• Szewczyk LM, Brozko N, Nagalski A, Röckle I, Werneburg S, Hildebrandt H, Wisniewska MB, Kuznicki J. ST8SIA2 promotes oligodendrocyte differentiation and the integrity of myelin and axons. Glia. 2017 Jan;65(1):34-49. doi: 10.1002/glia.23048.
• Gruszczynska-Biegala J, Sladowska M, Kuznicki J. AMPA Receptors Are Involved in Store-Operated Calcium Entry and Interact with STIM Proteins in Rat Primary Cortical Neurons. Front Cell Neurosci. 2016 Oct 25;10:251. eCollection 2016.
• Majewski L, Kuznicki J. SOCE in neurons: Signaling or just refilling? BiochimBiophys Acta - Mol Cell Res. 2015 Sep;1853(9):1940-52. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2015.01.019. Epub 2015 Jan 31. Review.
• Honarnejad K, Daschner A, Gehring AP, Szybinska A, Giese A, Kuznicki J, Bracher F, Herms J. Identification of tetrahydro carbazoles as novel multifactorial drug candidates for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Transl Psychiatry. 2014 Dec 16;4:e489. doi: 10.1038/tp.2014.132.
• Mills F, Bartlett TE, Dissing-Olesen L, Wisniewska MB, Kuznicki J, Macvicar BA, Wang YT, Bamji SX. Cognitive flexibility and long-term depression (LTD) are impaired following β-catenin stabilization in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2014 Jun 10;111(23):8631-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1404670111. Epub 2014 May 27.
• Czeredys M, Gruszczynska-Biegala J, Schacht T, Methner A, Kuznicki J. Expression of genes encoding the calcium signalosome in cellular and transgenic models of Huntington's disease. Front Mol Neurosci. 2013 Nov 25;6:42. doi:10.3389/fnmol.2013.00042. eCollection 2013.
• Honarnejad K, Daschner A, Giese A, Zall A, Schmidt B, Szybinska A, Kuznicki J, Herms J. Development and implementation of a high-throughput compound screening assay for targeting disrupted ER calcium homeostasis in Alzheimer's disease. PLoS One. 2013 Nov 15;8(11):e80645. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080645. eCollection 2013.
• Honarnejad K, Kirsch AK, Daschner A, Szybinska A, Kuznicki J, Herms J. FRET-based calcium imaging: a tool for high-throughput/content phenotypic drug screening in Alzheimer disease. J Biomol Screen. 2013 Dec;18(10):1309-20. doi:10.1177/1087057113502672.
• Gruszczynska-Biegala J, Kuznicki J. Native STIM2 and ORAI1 proteins form a calcium-sensitive and thapsigargin-insensitive complex in cortical neurons. J Neurochem. 2013 Sep;126(6):727-38. doi: 10.1111/jnc.12320. Epub 2013 Jun 12.
• Jaworska A, Dzbek J, Styczynska M, Kuznicki J. Analysis of calcium homeostasis in fresh lymphocytes from patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment. Biochim Biophys Acta - Mol Cell Res. 2013 Jul;1833(7):1692-9. doi:10.1016/j.bbamcr.2013.01.012. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
• Wojda U, Kuznicki J. Alzheimer's disease modeling: ups, downs, and perspectives for human induced pluripotent stem cells. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013;34(3):563-88. doi:10.3233/JAD-121984. Review.
• Wisniewska MB, Nagalski A, Dabrowski M, Misztal K, Kuznicki J. Novel β-catenin target genes identified in thalamic neurons encode modulators of neuronal excitability. BMC Genomics. 2012 Nov 17;13:635. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-13-635.
• Misztal K, Wisniewska MB, Ambrozkiewicz M, Nagalski A, Kuznicki J. WNT protein-independent constitutive nuclear localization of beta-catenin protein and its low degradation rate in thalamic neurons. J Biol Chem. 2011 Sep 9;286(36):31781-8. doi:10.1074/jbc.M111.229666. Epub 2011 Jul 9.
• Gruszczynska-Biegala J, Pomorski P, Wisniewska MB, Kuznicki J. Differential roles for STIM1 and STIM2 in store-operated calcium entry in rat neurons. PLoS One. 2011 Apr 26;6(4):e19285. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019285.
• Wisniewska MB, Misztal K, Michowski W, Szczot M, Purta E, Lesniak W, Klejman ME, Dabrowski M, Filipkowski RK, Nagalski A, Mozrzymas JW, Kuznicki J. LEF1/beta-catenin complex regulates transcription of the Cav3.1 calcium channel gene (Cacna1g) in thalamic neurons of the adult brain. J Neurosci. 2010 Apr 7;30(14):4957-69. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1425-09.2010.

See also: Laboratory of Neurodegeneration