Dr. Ari Meerson

Dr. Ari Meerson
Research Group Leader
PhD
Phone
972-54-6320771
972-4-6955022
972-4-6944980
microRNA; RNA; obesity; diabetes; cancer; gene expression
Research Interests:

We study the molecular basis of chronic diseases, focusing on the function of microRNAs, short RNA molecules that regulate gene expression and are involved in a variety of biological pathways. MicroRNAs may act as a functional link between different chronic diseases, and hold promise as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Specifically, we are interested in:

1.    MicroRNAs as a mechanistic link between metabolic disease and cancer

2.    Discovery of microRNA-based biomarkers in body fluids

We study the molecular basis of chronic diseases, focusing on the function of microRNAs.

CV

Education

Ph.D. 2009, Department of Biological Chemistry Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
M.Sc. 2004, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Academic and research positions

2013-present, Head of Molecular Biology of Chronic Diseases laboratory, Migal
2017-present, Tel Chai Academic College, Kiryat Shmona. Developmental Genetics course (plan) 
2015-present, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Visiting Researcher 
2009-2013, Postdoctoral Fellow at NIH/NIDDK (Phoenix), Arizona, USA

Honors and awards

2015-2017, Type 2 diabetes research grant, D-Cure/CSO-MOH
2013-2015, Gesher Award, Israel Cancer Research Fund/MOST
2015, Visiting Professorship, Danish Diabetes Academy (Novo Nordisk Foundation)
2014, Travel Award, The Daniel Turnberg UK/Middle East Travel Fellowship Scheme
2013, Travel Award, Copenhagen Bioscience Conferences (Novo Nordisk Foundation)
2011, NIDDK Nancy Nossal Fellowship Award (intramural grant competition)

Scientific Publications

Leptin-Responsive MiR-4443 Is a Small Regulatory RNA Independent of the Canonic MicroRNA Biogenesis Pathway

Ari Meerson
2020

Serum miR-122 levels correlate with diabetic retinopathy and high cardiovascular mortality rate.

Pastukh N, Meerson A, Kalish D, Jabaly H, Blum A.
Clinical and Experimental Medicine 2019 Volume Online ISSN 1591-9528 Pages 1-6
2019

Sex differences in plasma microRNA biomarkers of early and complicated diabetes mellitus in Israeli Arab and Jewish patients.

Meerson A, Najjar A, Saad E, Sbeit W, Barhoum M, Assy N.
Non-coding RNA 2019 Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 32
2019

Evaluating Azoxystrobin seed coating against maize late wilt disease using a sensitive qPCR-based method.

Degani O., Movshowitz D., Dor S., Meerson A., Goldblat Y., and Rabinovitz O.
Plant Disease 2019 Volume 103 Issue 2 Pages 238-248
2019

Sex-related gonadal gene expression differences in the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) grown in stable aquaculture conditions.

Degani G, Hurvitz A, Eliraz Y, Meerson A.
Animal Reproduction Sci. 2019 Volume 200 Pages 75-85
2019

MicroRNA-423 may regulate diabetic vasculopathy.

Blum A, Rohana H, Meerson A, Jabaly H, Nahul N, Celesh D, Romanenko O, Tamir S.
Clin Exp Med 2019 Pages 1-9
2019

Vitellogenesis in Blue Gourami is Accompanied by Brain Transcriptome Changes.

Degani, G., Alon, A. Hajouj, A. and Ari Meerson, A.
Fishes 2019 Volume 4 Issue 4 Pages 54
2019

Obesity impacts the regulation of miR-10b and its targets in primary breast tumors.

Meerson A, Eliraz Y, Yehuda H, Knight B, Crundwell M, Ferguson D, Lee BP, Harries LW.
BMC Cancer 2019 Volume 19 Issue 86
2019

Elevated Levels of miR-122 in Serum May Contribute to Improved Endothelial Function and Lower Oncologic Risk Following Bariatric Surgery

Arnon Blum, Hila Yehuda, Nissim Geron and Ari Meerson
Isr Med Assoc J 2017 Volume 19 Pages 620-624
2017

Assessment of 6 commercial plasma small RNA isolation kits using qRT-PCR and electrophoretic separation: higher recovery of microRNA following ultracentrifugation

Meerson A, Ploug T
Biology Methods & Protocols 2016
2016

Leptin and insulin up-regulate miR-4443 to suppress NCOA1 and TRAF4, and decrease the invasiveness of human colon cancer cells

Meerson A, Yehuda H
BMC Cancer 2016
2016

Human adipose microRNA-221 is up-regulated in obesity and affects fat metabolism downstream of leptin and TNFa

Meerson A, Traurig M, Ossowski V, Fleming JM, Mullins M, Baier LJ.
Diabetologia 2013 Volume 56 Issue 9 Pages 1971-9
2013

Changes in brain MicroRNAs contribute to cholinergic stress reactions

A. Meerson; L. Cacheaux; K. A. Goosens; R. M. Sapolsky; H. Soreq; D. Kaufer
Journal of Molecular Neuroscience 2010 Volume 40 Issue 01-??? Pages 47-55
2010

Altered aPKC signaling contributes to glioblastoma cell migration

Kusne Y, Meerson A, Rushing EJ, Yang W, Aldape K, McDonough W, Kislin K, Loftus JC, Berens M, Lu Z, and Ghosh S
Neuro-Oncology 2010 Volume 12 Issue 15
2010

MicroRNA-132 Potentiates Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Signaling by Targeting Acetylcholinesterase

I. Shaked; A. Meerson; Y. Wolf; R. Avni; D. Greenberg; A. Gilboa-Geffen; H. Soreq
Immunity 2009 Volume 31 Issue 6 Pages 965-973
2009

MicroRNA-132 regulates brain to body anti-inflammatory signaling

Soreq H, Shaked I, Meerson A, Avni R, Greenberg D, Gilboa-Geffen A
J Neurochem 2009 Volume 110 Pages 15-15
2009

Regulation of Alternative Splicing by Psychological Stress

Flores L, Meerson A, Goosens KA, Sapolsky R, Soreq H, Kaufer D
Society For Neuroscience 2007 Annual Meeting
2007

MicroRNA modulation of megakaryoblast fate involves cholinergic signaling

C. Guimaraes-Sternberg; A. Meerson; I. Shaked; H. Soreq
Leukemia Research 2006 Volume 30 Issue 5 Pages 583-595
2006

Modulation of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor activity upon amino acid deprivation

H. Shorer; N. Amar; A. Meerson; Z. Elazar
Journal of Biological Chemistry 2005 Volume 280 Issue 16 Pages 16219-16226
2005

p53 mediates density-dependent growth arrest

A. Meerson; M. Milyavsky; V. Rotter
FEBS Letters 2004 Volume 559 Issue 02-??? Pages 152-158
2004

Prolonged Culture of Telomerase-Immortalized Human Fibroblasts Leads to a Premalignant Phenotype

M. Milyavsky; I. Shats; N. Erez; X. Tang; S. Senderovich; A. Meerson; Y. Tabach; N. Goldfinger; D. Ginsberg; C. C. Harris; V. Rotter
Cancer Research 2003 Volume 63 Issue 21 Pages 7147-7157
2003