Christopher Solís, Ph.D., MBA

Interests

My research goals are broadly focused on understanding the mechanisms of cardiac and skeletal muscle adaptation to load under physiologic and pathologic conditions. While the heart can grow in size to healthy levels, as seen in the athlete’s heart, other pathologic etiologies such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), long periods prolonged bed rest, and microgravity cause a detrimental mismatch between the mechanical capacity of the heart and the body’s hemodynamic demand. As such, the goal of my laboratory is to understand how muscle cells read and respond to mechanical stimulation in the short and long term. In particular, we are interested in answering the following questions:

1. What is the role of post-translational modification of structural proteins in cardiomyocytes in response to mechanical loading and unloading?
2. How does the activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system change in response to mechanical loading and unloading?
3. How does the balance between myofibrillogenesis and disassembly shape the muscle cell morphology and protein turnover?

 

Education

• M.B.A., Business Analytics Concentration, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Certificate in Bioinformatics, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Ph.D. in Biochemistry, South Dakota State University
• B.S. in Industrial Chemistry, National University of Costa Rica

 

Publications and Other Scholarly Activities

For a complete list see Google Scholar.

Solís C*, Warren CM, Dittloff K, DiNello E, Solaro RJ, Russell B. Cardiomyocyte external mechanical unloading activates modifications of α-actinin differently from sarcomere-originated unloading. FEBS J. 2023. doi: 10.1111/febs.16925.

Solís C, Thompson WC, Peña JR, McDermott-Roe C, Langa P, Warren CM, Chrzanowska M, Wolska BM, Solaro RJ, Pieter Detombe and Goldspink PH (2022) Mechano-growth factor E-domain modulates cardiac contractile function through 14-3-3 protein interactomes. Front. Physiol. 13:1028345. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1028345.

Solís C, Russell B. Striated muscle proteins are regulated both by mechanical deformation and by chemical post-translational modification. Biophys Rev. 2021 13(5), 679-695. doi:10.1007/s12551- 021-00835-4.

Solís C*, Chaves G, & Rodriguez-Corrales, J. Announcing the call for the Issue Focus on the 2nd Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium-virtual meeting. Biophys Rev. 2021; 1-2. doi:10.1007/s12551- 021-00816-7.

Solís C, Solaro RJ. Novel insights into sarcomere regulatory systems control of cardiac thin filament activation. J Gen Physiol. 2021 Jul 5;153(7):e202012777. doi: 10.1085/jgp.202012777. PMID: 33740037.

Solís C*, Robinson JM. Cardiac troponin and tropomyosin bind to F-actin cooperatively, as revealed by fluorescence microscopy. FEBS Open Bio. 2020;10(7):1362-1372. doi:10.1002/2211- 5463.12876.

Solís C*, Rodríguez-Corrales JA, Alvarado FJ Lessons Learned from Organizing a Biophysics Symposium in a Developing Country. The Biophysicist. 2020; 1(2): 2. doi: https://doi.org/10.35459/tbp.2019.000144.

Solís, C*, Kim, GH, Moutsoglou, ME, Robinson, JM. Ca2+ and Myosin Cycle States Work as Allosteric Effectors of Troponin Activation. Biophysical Journal. 2018; 115: 1762–1769.

* Corresponding/ co-corresponding author

 

Accomplishments

• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
• Travel Award recipient, young investigator category. International Society for Heart Research-North American Section (ISHR-NAS), 2023.
• Travel Award Recipient, 66^th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, 2022.
• Finalist, Excelsior Award. Society of General Physiologists, 2021.
• Elected Fellow, Intersections Science Fellows Symposium, 2023. Declined due to securing a faculty position.
• President, UIC Postdoctoral Association, 2020-2021.
• Distinction Award, Young Investigator Oral Presentations, 48th European Muscle Conference, 2019.
• Co-founder and chair, 2019 Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium.
• Awardee, Networking mini-Grant: “Costa Rican Biophysics Symposium”, Biophysical Society, 2019.