Iliya M Lefterov

MD, PhD
  • Research Professor
  • Faculty in Environmental and Occupational Health
Education

Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria | MD General Medicine

Medical Academy & Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria | PhD Molecular Biology & Genetics

Institute of Medical Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Molecular techniques for prenatal diagnosis of metabolic and inherited diseases

Institute of Human Genetics, University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany
Approaches for positional cloning
Course development in Medical Genetics

Department of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Fogarty International Foundation Research Grant
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Selected Publications

Nicholas F. Fitz, Kyong Nyon Nam, Cody M. Wolfe, Florent Letronne, Brittany E. Playso, Bistra E. Iordanova, Takashi D.Y. Kozai, Richard J. Biedrzycki, Valerian E. Kagan, Yulia Y. Tyurina, Xianlin Han,Iliya Lefterov & Radosveta Koldamova (2021). Phospholipids of APOE lipoproteins activate microglia in an isoform-specific manner in preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease.Nature Communications. 2021 Jun 7;12(1):3416. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23762-0.

Nicholas F. Fitz, Jiebiao Wang, M. Ilyas Kamboh, Radosveta Koldamova & Iliya Lefterov (2021) Small nucleolar RNAs in plasma and their discriminatory power as diagnostic biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease.&nbsp Neurobiology of Disease. August 2021.

Nicholas F Fitz, Cody M Wolfe, Brittany E Playso, Richard J Biedrzycki, Yi Lu, Kyong Nyon Nam,Iliya Lefterov, Radosveta Koldamova. “Trem2 deficiency differentially affects phenotype and transcriptome of human APOE3 or APOE4 mice”.Molecular Neurodegeneration Mol Neurodegeneration. 2020 Jul 23;15(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s13024-020-00394.

Wolfe CM, Fitz NF, Nam KN,Lefterov I., Koldamova R. The Role of APOE and TREM2 in Alzheimer's Disease-Current Understanding and Perspectives. Int J Mol Sci. 2018;20 1; doi: 10.3390/ijms20010081.

Fitz NF, Nam KN, Koldamova R,Lefterov I. Therapeutic Targeting of Nuclear Receptors, LXR and RXR, for Alzheimer's Disease. Br J Pharmacol. 2019; doi: 10.1111/bph.14668.

Castranio EL, Wolfe CM, Nam KN, Letronne F, Fitz NF,Lefterov I., et al. ABCA1 haplodeficiency affects the brain transcriptome following traumatic brain injury in mice expressing human APOE isoforms. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2018;6 1:69; doi: 10.1186/s40478-018-0569-2.

Nam, K. N., C. M. Wolfe, N. F. Fitz, F. Letronne, E. L. Castranio, A. Mounier, J. Schug,Lefterov I., and R. Koldamova (2017). "Integrated approach reveals diet, APOE genotype and sex affect immune response in APP mice." Biochim Biophys Acta 1864(1): 152-161.

Nam, K. N., A. Mounier, C. M. Wolfe, N. F. Fitz, A. Y. Carter, E. L. Castranio, H. I. Kamboh, V. L. Reeves, J. Wang, X. Han, J. Schug,Lefterov I., and R. Koldamova (2017). "Effect of high fat diet on phenotype, brain transcriptome and lipidome in Alzheimer's model mice." Sci Rep 7(1): 4307.

Fitz, N. F., A. Y. Carter, V. Tapias, E. L. Castranio, R. Kodali,Lefterov I., and R. Koldamova (2017). "ABCA1 Deficiency Affects Basal Cognitive Deficits and Dendritic Density in Mice." J Alzheimers Dis.

Castranio, E. L., A. Mounier, C. M. Wolfe, K. N. Nam, N. F. Fitz, F. Letronne, J. Schug, R. Koldamova and Lefterov I. (2017). "Gene co-expression networks identify Trem2 and Tyrobp as major hubs in human APOE expressing mice following traumatic brain injury." Neurobiol Dis 105: 1-14.

Carter, A. Y., F. Letronne, N. F. Fitz, A. Mounier, C. M. Wolfe, K. N. Nam, V. L. Reeves, H. Kamboh,Lefterov I. and R. Koldamova (2017). "Liver X receptor agonist treatment significantly affects phenotype and transcriptome of APOE3 and APOE4 Abca1 haplodeficient mice." PLoS One 12(2): e0172161.

Nam, K. N., A. Mounier, N. F. Fitz, C. Wolfe, J. Schug,Lefterov I. and R. Koldamova (2016). "RXR controlled regulatory networks identified in mouse brain counteract deleterious effects of Abeta oligomers." Sci Rep 6: 24048.

Fitz, N. F., V. Tapias, A. A. Cronican, E. L. Castranio, M. Saleem, A. Y. Carter, M. Lefterova,Lefterov I. and R. Koldamova (2015). "Opposing effects of Apoe/Apoa1 double deletion on amyloid-beta pathology and cognitive performance in APP mice." Brain 138(Pt 12): 3699-3715.

Mounier, A., D. Georgiev, K. N. Nam, N. F. Fitz, E. Castranio, C. Wolfe, A. A. Cronican, J. Schug,Lefterov I. and R. Koldamova (2015). "Bexarotene-Activated Retinoid X Receptors Regulate Neuronal Differentiation and Dendritic Complexity." Journal of Neuroscience 35(34): 11862-11876.

Lefterov I., Schug J, Mounier A, Nam KN, Fitz NF, and Koldamova R. (2015) mRNA-sequencing reveals transcriptional up-regulation of Trem2 in response to Bexarotene treatment. Neurobiol. Dis. 82: 132-140.

Koldamova R, Schug J, Lefterova M, Cronican AA, Fitz NF, Davenport FA, Carter A, Castranio EL,Lefterov I. (2014) Genome-wide approaches reveal EGR1-controlled regulatory networks associated with neurodegeneration. Neurobiol. Dis. 63: 107-114

Fitz NF, Castranio EL, Carter AY, Kodali R,Lefterov I., Koldamova R. (2014) Improvement of Memory Deficits and Amyloid-� Clearance in Aged APP23 Mice Treated with a Combination of Anti-Amyloid-� Antibody and LXR Agonist. J Alzheimer’s Dis. 41(2): 535-549

Fitz, N. F., Cronican, A. A.,Lefterov I., and Koldamova, R. (2013) Comment on ”ApoE-directed therapeutics rapidly clear �-amyloid and reverse deficits in AD mouse models”. Science 340, 924–c.

Cronican, A. A., Fitz, N. F., Carter, A., Saleem, M., Shiva, S., Barchowsky, A., Koldamova, R., Schug, J., and Lefterov I. (2013). Genome-wide alteration of histone H3K9 acetylation pattern in mouse offspring prenatally exposed to arsenic. PLoS One 8, e53478.

Fitz, N. F., A. A. Cronican, M. Saleem, A. H. Fauq, R. Chapman,Lefterov I. and R. Koldamova (2012). "Abca1 deficiency affects Alzheimer's disease-like phenotype in human ApoE4 but not in ApoE3-targeted replacement mice." J Neurosci 32(38): 13125-13136.