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Research Lab Bench
Physiology
Aron Geurts, PhD

Aron Geurts, PhD

John E. and Genevieve M. Butenhoff Cardiovascular Research Professorship

Locations

  • Physiology

Contact Information

Honors and Awards

2011 - New Innovator Award, Office of the Director of the NIH

Research Experience

  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Blood Pressure
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Genetic Engineering
  • Genetic Research
  • Genomics
  • Hypertension
  • Kidney
  • Organisms, Genetically Modified
  • Phenotype
  • Rats
  • Rats, Inbred Dahl

Methodologies and Techniques

  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • Gene Editing
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Genetic Techniques
  • Genetic Vectors
  • Genomics
  • Models, Genetic
  • Mutation
  • Organisms, Genetically Modified

MCW Program / Core Facilities

  • Rodent Model Resource Center (Director)

Research Interests

Continuing research efforts in the Geurts lab are being driven by our interests in developing genetic approaches toward understanding human health and disease.  For the past 12 years, we have been developing tools for genetic manipulation in a variety of cell and animal systems including stem cells, zebrafish, mice and laboratory rats. These systems are among the most widely preferred models for genetic and physiological investigation into human disease, however, genetic approaches, especially in non-mouse systems, have traditionally been limited by a lack of technologies.

After joining the Medical College in 2006, we implemented new approaches to accelerate transgenic and gene knockout studies for the PhysGen Program for Genomic Applications by adapting the Sleeping Beauty transposable element system for use in rats. Transposons are currently the most reproducible and efficient tool available for adding new genes to the rat genome and since then, we have worked with several other local investigators to create new transgenic rat models.

geurts2

geurts1In 2009, we were fortunate to be the first to demonstrate that engineered proteins called Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) could be applied to rat embryos to generate the world’s first targeted gene knockout rats. This breakthrough revolutionized the local and broader research communities who use laboratory rats as a model system and other researchers are now applying these methods to other animal models such as mice, pigs, and rabbits. Site-specific modification of the rat genome using ZFNs is used to disrupt (knockout) or introduce specific gene alleles (knockin) to modify gene function. To date, we have created more than 100 knockout and knockin genetic models for several research areas related to our collaborative interests in complex diseases such as hypertension, renal disease, Type 1 Diabetes, and drug abuse. 
More recently, the Geurts lab has been developing TAL Effector Nuclease (TALEN) technology for targeted genome engineering. TALENs are a relatively new technology which are analogous to ZFNs, but have some attractive attributes including reduced cost and design flexibility which will facilitate their use in the field. This new technique is complemented by our recent development of the first rat embryonic stem cells from a hypertensive rat model in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Howard Jacob. The availability of stem cells from this disease model rat now provides unique possibilities for creating more complicated genetic models. We are currently establishing whether these cells are capable of supporting our engineering approaches for producing genetically modified rats.

Recently, Dr. Geurts' creative and innovative contributions to the field of genetics and technology were recognized by the granting of a New Innovator Award from the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health. This prominent award will propel efforts in the Geurts lab toward pushing the limits of these technologies to create better models of human disease. These techniques, animal models, and resources broadly benefit the local and broader research communities and advance our collective understanding of complex human genetic diseases.

 

Publications

  • (Fitzpatrick M, Szalanczy A, Beeson A, Vora A, Scott C, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Der N, Chen R, Geurts AM, Woods LCS.) bioRxiv. 2024 Jun 16 PMID: 38916175 PMCID: PMC11195162 06/25/2024

  • (de Jong TV, Pan Y, Rastas P, Munro D, Tutaj M, Akil H, Benner C, Chen D, Chitre AS, Chow W, Colonna V, Dalgard CL, Demos WM, Doris PA, Garrison E, Geurts AM, Gunturkun HM, Guryev V, Hourlier T, Howe K, Huang J, Kalbfleisch T, Kim P, Li L, Mahaffey S, Martin FJ, Mohammadi P, Ozel AB, Polesskaya O, Pravenec M, Prins P, Sebat J, Smith JR, Solberg Woods LC, Tabakoff B, Tracey A, Uliano-Silva M, Villani F, Wang H, Sharp BM, Telese F, Jiang Z, Saba L, Wang X, Murphy TD, Palmer AA, Kwitek AE, Dwinell MR, Williams RW, Li JZ, Chen H.) Cell Genom. 2024 Apr 10;4(4):100527 PMID: 38537634 PMCID: PMC11019364 03/28/2024

  • (Ritter ML, Wagner VA, Balapattabi K, Opichka MA, Lu KT, Wackman KK, Reho JJ, Keen HL, Kwitek AE, Morselli LL, Geurts AM, Sigmund CD, Grobe JL.) Physiol Genomics. 2024 Mar 01;56(3):265-275 PMID: 38145289 PMCID: PMC10866620 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85185200180 12/25/2023

  • (Ray A, Stelloh C, Liu Y, Meyer A, Geurts AM, Cowley AW Jr, Greene AS, Liang M, Rao S.) Hypertension. 2024 Feb;81(2):229-239 PMID: 38031837 PMCID: PMC11229175 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85182776843 11/30/2023

  • (Stone W, Strege C, Miller W, Geurts AM, Grzybowski M, Riddle M, Lees C, Eide C, Keene DR, Tufa SF, Seelig D, McGrath J, Tolar J.) PLoS One. 2024;19(5):e0302991 PMID: 38722855 PMCID: PMC11081381 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85192799401 05/10/2024

  • (Ye C, Clements SA, Gu W, Geurts AM, Mathews CE, Serreze DV, Chen YG, Driver JP.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Dec 05;120(49):e2312039120 PMID: 38015847 PMCID: PMC10710095 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85178500431 11/28/2023

  • (Bohovyk R, Khedr S, Levchenko V, Stefanenko M, Semenikhina M, Kravtsova O, Isaeva E, Geurts AM, Klemens CA, Palygin O, Staruschenko A.) Diabetes. 2023 Dec 01;72(12):1795-1808 PMID: 37722138 PMCID: PMC10658073 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85176576178 09/18/2023

  • (Hirata T, Fan F, Fan L, Amin G, White T, Geurts AM, Kojima N, Takahashi T, Miyata N, Williams J, Roman RJ.) J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2023 Dec 01;82(6):445-457 PMID: 37643020 PMCID: PMC10691661 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85179008494 08/29/2023

  • (Szalanczy AM, Giorgio G, Goff E, Seshie O, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Geurts AM, Redei EE, Solberg Woods LC.) Physiol Genomics. 2023 Oct 01;55(10):452-467 PMID: 37458463 PMCID: PMC10642928 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85170295262 07/17/2023

  • (Slick RA, Tinklenberg JA, Sutton J, Zhang L, Meng H, Beatka MJ, Vanden Avond M, Prom MJ, Ott E, Montanaro F, Heisner J, Toro R, Granzier H, Geurts AM, Stowe DF, Hill RB, Lawlor MW.) Am J Pathol. 2023 Oct;193(10):1528-1547 PMID: 37422147 PMCID: PMC10548278 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85171390420 07/09/2023

  • (Tinklenberg JA, Slick RA, Sutton J, Zhang L, Meng H, Beatka MJ, Vanden Avond M, Prom MJ, Ott E, Montanaro F, Heisner J, Toro R, Hardeman EC, Geurts AM, Stowe DF, Hill RB, Lawlor MW.) Am J Pathol. 2023 Oct;193(10):1548-1567 PMID: 37419385 PMCID: PMC10548277 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85171370030 07/08/2023

  • (Szalanczy AM, Fitzpatrick M, Beeson A, Bui T, Dyson C, Eller S, Landry J, Scott C, Grzybowski M, Klotz J, Geurts AM, Weiner JL, Redei EE, Solberg Woods LC.) Front Genet. 2023;14:1247232 PMID: 38323241 PMCID: PMC10844407 02/07/2024

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