Vera P. Krymskaya, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine

University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Division
Airway Biology Initiative
Translational Research Building
125 S. 31st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403

tel.: (215) 573-9861
fax.: (215) 573-4469
Tel. (lab): (215) 746-3594
fax.: (lab): (215) 573-4469
email: krymskay@mail.med.upenn.edu

Education:

PhD: Moscow State University, Russia

Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Krymskaya's research interests are in the signal transduction mechanisms of vascular and airway smooth muscle cell remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), asthma, and COPD; and cellular and molecular mechanisms of rare lung diseases. Dr. Krymskaya has dedicated the last several years of her career to combating pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Krymskaya’s lab was responsible for the breakthrough step of discovering the function of the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2 (TSC2) gene. Dr. Krymskaya’s study linked mutational inactivation of TSC2 in human LAM cells to the constitutive activation of mTOR/S6K1 signaling pathway and abnormal LAM cell growth. Dr. Krymskaya has also dramatically advanced translational LAM research by demonstrating that rapamycin inhibits LAM cell growth. This discovery identified rapamycin as a promising therapeutic strategy for LAM patients, and paved the way for rapamycin clinical trials worldwide. For this achievement Dr. Krymskaya has honored by The Science Advancement Award from The LAM Foundation.

Krymskaya, VP and Goncharova, EA: PI3K/mTORC1 activation in hamartoma syndromes: therapeutic prospects. Cell Cycle. Landes Bioscience, 8: 403-413, 2009.

Goncharova EA, Goncharov DA, Chisolm A, Spaits M, Lim P, Cesarone, G, Khavin I, Tliba O, Amrani Y, Panettieri, Jr. RA, Krymskaya VP: Interferon β Augments TSC2-dependent Inhibition of TSC2-Null ELT3 and Human LAM-derived Cell Proliferation. Molecular Pharmacology 73: 778-788, March 2008.

Krymskaya, VP: Smooth Muscle-Like Cells in Pulmonary Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society 5: 119-126, 2008.

Vera P. Krymskaya: Targeting Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase in Airway Smooth Muscle: Rationale and Promise. BioDrugs. Adis International, Ltd, 21(2): 85-95, 2007.

Goncharova, E.A., Lim, P., Goncharov, D.A., Eszterhas, A., Panettieri, R.A., Jr. and Krymskaya, V.P.: Assay for in vitro monitoring of proliferation of human airway smooth muscle (ASM) and human pulmonary arterial vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells. Nature Protocols 1(6): 2905-2908, Dec 2006.

Goncharova, E. A., Goncharov, D. A., and V. P. Krymskaya: Assay for in vitro monitoring of human airway smooth muscle (ASM) and human pulmonary arterial vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell migration. Nature Protocols 1(6): 2933-2939, Dec 2006.

Goncharova EA, Goncharov DA, Spaits M, Noonan DJ, Talovskaya EV, Eszterhas A, Krymskaya VP: Abnormal Growth of Smooth Muscle Cells in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM): Role for Tumor Suppressor TSC2. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology 34(5): 561-72, May 2006.

Goncharova EA, Goncharov DA, Lim PN, Noonan D, Krymskaya VP : Modulation of cell migration and invasiveness by tumor suppressor TSC2 in lymphangioleiomyomatosis. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology 34(4): 473-80, Apr 2006.

Krymskaya VP, Goncharova EA, Ammit AJ, Lim PJ, Goncharov DA, Eszterhas A, Panettieri Jr RA : Src is necessary and sufficient for human airway smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. The FASEB Journal 19: 428-430, 2005.

Goncharova EA, Goncharov DA, Noonan D, Krymskaya VP: TSC2 modulates actin cytoskeleton and cell adhesion through TSC1-binding domain and Rac1 GTPase.  Journal of Cell Biology 167: 1171-1182, 2004.

Goncharova EA, Goncharov DA, Eszterhas A, Hunter DS, Glassberg MK, Yeung RS, Walker CL, Noonan D, Kwiatkowski DJ, Chou MM, Panettieri Jr RA, Krymskaya VP: Tuberin regulates p70 S6 kinase activation and ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation. A role for the TSC2 tumor suppressor gene in pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Journal of Biological Chemistry 277(34): 30958-67, Aug 23 2002.

Goncharova EA, Ammit AJ, Irani C, Carroll RG, Eszterhas AJ, Panettieri Jr RA, Krymskaya VP: PI3K is required for proliferation and migration of human pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells. American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular & Molecular Physiology 283(2): L354-63, Aug 2002.

revised 7/09