Mulugeta Melkie Zegeye
Position: Postdoctoral Researcher School/office: School of Medical SciencesEmail: mulugeta.m.zegeye@oru.se
Phone: +46 19 302192
Room: X3209
About Mulugeta Melkie Zegeye
Mulugeta M Zegeye is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cardiovascular Research Centre (CVRC), School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University.
Mulugeta obtained a bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Technology from University of Gondar (2007) and a master’s degree in Clinical Chemistry from Addis Ababa University (2011), Ethiopia. He worked as a graduate assistant and lecturer at Arbaminch University (Ethiopia) for 5 years before moving to Sweden under the SI study scholarship in 2014, where he studied a master’s program in Biomedicine/Experimental Medicine at Örebro University.
Mulugeta defended his PhD thesis entitled ‘Interleukin-6 Signaling Pathways in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells: Molecular Mechanisms and Associations to Atherosclerosis’ in 2021. His thesis sheds light on the molecular differences of IL-6 signaling pathways in human vascular endothelial cells in terms of intracellular signaling pathways, downstream proteomic and transcriptomic regulations on soluble and basement proteins, and endothelial functions such as migration, proliferation, and tube formation. In addition, this thesis addresses the link between IL-6 trans-signaling to atherosclerosis and risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI) using a novel biomarker estimated from plasma concentrations of IL-6, sIL-6R and sgp130.
Research overview
Broadly, Mulugeta's main research interests lie in the fields of vascular inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular diseases. He focuses on elucidating the cellular and molecular impacts of inflammatory cytokines on vascular cells and on understanding the associations between circulating levels of cytokines, risk factors, and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. His work employs cell culture studies, molecular and cellular techniques, and population-based cohort studies.
In 2022, Mulugeta received a post-doctoral grant from the Swedish Knowledge Foundation (KKS-Prospekt) to investigate the significance of interfering with PDGF signaling and MMP9 in preventing endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
Teaching
Mulugeta is involved in teaching, seminar leading, and laboratory demonstration/teaching in the courses ‘Cardiovascular system in health and disease’, ‘Advanced cell and molecular biology’, ‘Research methods in cardiovascular medicine', and ‘Translational medicine’. Mulugeta also participates as a problem-based learning (PBL) tutor for the international master’s program as well as for the medical program.
Departmental duties
Mulugeta is the coordinator of the ‘Cardiovascular system in health and disease’ (15hp) course offered to the international master’s program students in Experimental Biomedicine.
Student supervision
Mulugeta is currently a co-supervisor for one PhD student and a main supervisor for one master student. Previously, he has supervised several bachelor’s, master’s, and T6 medical students.
Other responsibilities
Mulugeta is elected board member and representative of school of medical and health sciences at Junior faculty, Örebro University (2023-2025).
Research projects
Active projects
Research groups
Publications
Articles in journals
- Zegeye, M. M. , Matic, L. , Lengquist, M. , Hayderi, A. , Grenegård, M. , Hedin, U. , Sirsjö, A. , Ljungberg, L. U. & et al. (2023). Interleukin-6 trans-signaling induced laminin switch contributes to reduced trans-endothelial migration of granulocytic cells. Atherosclerosis, 371, 41-53.
- Zegeye, M. M. , Nakka, S. S. , Andersson, J. S. O. , Söderberg, S. , Ljungberg, L. , Kumawat, A. K. & Sirsjö, A. (2023). Soluble LDL-receptor is induced by TNF-α and inhibits hepatocytic clearance of LDL-cholesterol. Journal of Molecular Medicine, 101 (12), 1615-1626.
- Kumawat, A. K. , Zegeye, M. M. , Paramel Varghese, G. , Baumgartner, R. , Gisterå, A. , Amegavie, O. , Hellberg, S. , Jin, H. & et al. (2022). Inhibition of IL17A Using an Affibody Molecule Attenuates Inflammation in ApoE-Deficient Mice. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 9.
- Lindkvist, M. , Zegeye, M. M. , Grenegård, M. & Ljungberg, L. (2022). Pleiotropic, Unique and Shared Responses Elicited by IL-6 Family Cytokines in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23 (3).
- Zegeye, M. M. , Andersson, J. S. O. , Wennberg, P. , Repsilber, D. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. (2021). IL-6 as a Mediator of the Association Between Traditional Risk Factors and Future Myocardial Infarction: A Nested Case-Control Study. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 41 (4), 1570-1579.
- Ljungberg, L. , Zegeye, M. M. , Kardeby, C. , Fälker, K. , Repsilber, D. & Sirsjö, A. (2020). Global Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Novel Autocrine Functions of Interleukin 6 in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells. Mediators of Inflammation, 2020.
- Zegeye, M. M. , Andersson, B. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. U. (2020). IL-6 trans-Signaling Impairs Sprouting Angiogenesis by Inhibiting Migration, Proliferation and Tube Formation of Human Endothelial Cells.. Cells, 9 (6).
- Zegeye, M. M. , Lindkvist, M. , Fälker, K. , Kumawat, A. K. , Paramel Varghese, G. , Grenegård, M. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. U. (2018). Activation of the JAK/STAT3 and PI3K/AKT pathways are crucial for IL-6 trans-signaling-mediated pro-inflammatory response in human vascular endothelial cells. Cell Communication and Signaling, 16 (1).
Conference papers
- Zegeye, M. , Ljungberg, L. , Nakka, S. , Andersson, J. , Söderberg, S. , Kumawat, A. & Sirsjö, A. (2023). Soluble LDL-receptor is induced by TNF-Α and inhibits hepatocytic clearance of LDL-cholesterol. In: Atherosclerosis. Paper presented at 91st Annual Meeting of the European-Atherosclerosis-Society (EAS 2023), Mannheim, Germany, May 21-24, 2023. (pp. S61-S61). Elsevier.
- Zegeye, M. M. , Kumawat, A. K. , Matic, L. , Lengquist, M. , Hyderi, A. , Hedin, U. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. (2021). IL-6 trans-signaling regulates vascular endothelial laminin profile and inflammatory responses: Possible mechanism for immune cell recruitment during atherosclerosis?. In: Atherosclerosis. Elsevier.
Doctoral theses, comprehensive summaries
- Zegeye, M. M. (2021). Interleukin-6 Signaling Pathways in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells: Molecular Mechanisms and Associations to Atherosclerosis. (Doctoral dissertation). (Comprehensive summary) Örebro: Örebro University.
Manuscripts
- Lindkvist, M. , Zegeye, M. M. , Sirsjö, A. , Grenegård, M. & Ljungberg, L. U. Comparative evaluation of gp130 signalling cytokines in human endothelial cells : evidence for both specific and overlapping molecular responses.
- Zegeye, M. M. , Kumawat, A. K. , Matic, L. , Lengquist, M. , Hayderi, A. , Hedin, U. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. U. IL-6 trans-signaling regulates vascular endothelial laminin profile and inflammatory responses : possible mechanism for immune cell recruitment during atherosclerosis?.
- Zegeye, M. M. , Andersson, J. S. , Wennberg, P. , Repsilber, D. , Sirsjö, A. & Ljungberg, L. Interleukin-6 as a mediator of the association between traditional risk factors and future Myocardial Infarction : A nested case-control study.