Clinical Skeletal Muscle Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory

The Clinical Skeletal Muscle Physiology and Biochemistry Lab is accepting applications for post-doctoral fellows and/or graduate students. Please contact Dr. Koutakis for more information.

About the lab

The Clinical Skeletal Muscle Physiology and Biochemistry Lab is a research facility that is part of the Nutrition, Food & Exercise Sciences Department of the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Our lab studies different aspects of muscle physiology and biochemistry in diseased individuals, with a focus on the development of strategies to improve skeletal muscle tissue in the legs of patients suffering from peripheral artery disease (PAD). We evaluate the mechanisms that produce the leg dysfunction of PAD utilizing experimental and computational modeling including cell culture, animal studies and human clinical studies.

Research Interests

Cytoskeletal proteins

Evaluation and association with muscle morphology

Oxidative stress

Signaling mechanisms in protein modification under ischemia-reperfusion conditions.

Antioxidant defenses

Mitochondrial function 

Electron transport chain complex activity and ATP production

Calcium protease system

Effects of revascularization operations and supervised exercise treatment

Our research focuses on the development of improved diagnostic and treatment methods for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD affects 8 million people in the USA and is a manifestation of atherosclerosis that produces progressive narrowing and occlusion of the arteries supplying the lower extremities. The most common clinical manifestation of PAD is claudication, i.e., a severe functional limitation identified as gait dysfunction and walking-induced leg muscle pain. A myopathy produced by chronic ischemia is present in the legs of patients with PAD and is central to the functional deterioration seen in claudication.

Staff
Publications

Staff

Faculty / Staff

Panagiotis Koutakis, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Lab Director

pkoutakis@fsu.edu
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Eva Papoutsi

Research Assistant

epapoutsi@fsu.edu
4014-B

Students

Ahmed Ismaeel

Ph.D. Student, Exercise Physiology

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Jeremiah Kidd

M.S. Student, Exercise Physiology

Luke Galloway

Undergraduate Student

Katherine Jones

Undergraduate Student

Katie Prezioso

Undergraduate Student

Collaborators

Dr. Ramon Lavado, PhD

Baylor University
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Dr. Jeffrey S. Kirk, MD

Capital Regional Medical Center
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Dr. W. Todd Bohannon, MD

Baylor Scott and White Health
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Dr. Iraklis I. Pipinos, MD, PhD

University of Nebraska at Medical Center
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Publications

Publication	Author(s)	Journal	Date
Effects of limb revascularization procedures on oxidative stress	Ismaeel A., Lavado R., Smith R.S., Eidson J.L., Sawicki I., Kirk J.S., Bohannan W.T., Koutakis P.	Journal of Surgical Research	07.11.18
Oxidative Stress and Arterial Dysfunction in Peripheral Artery Disease	Ismaeel A., Brumberg R.S., Kirk J.S., Papoutsi E., Farmer P.J., Bohannon W.T., Smith R.S., Eidson J.L., Sawicki I., Koutakis P.	Antioxidants	10.19.18
Path Integration: Effect of Curved Path Complexity and Sensory System on Blindfolded Walking	Koutakis P., Mukherjee M., Vallabhajosula S., Blanke B.J., Stergiou N.	Gait And Posture	02.27.13
Stroke survivors control the temporal structure of variability during reaching in dynamic environments	Mukherjee M., Koutakis P., Siu K.C., Fayad P.B., Stergiou N.	Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering	02.04.13
Figure Skater Level Moderates Balance Training	Saunders N.W., Hanson N.J., Koutakis P., Chaudhari A.M., Devor S.T.	International Journal of Sports Medicine	04.22.13
Morphometric Analysis of Gastrocnemius Muscle Biopsies from Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease: Objective Grading of Muscle	Cluff K., Miserlis D., Naganathan G.K., Pipinos I.I., Koutakis P., Samal A., McComb R., Subbiah J., Casale G.	American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology	08.01.13
Gastrocnemius Mitochondrial Respiration: Are There Any Differences Between Men and Women?	Thompson J.R., Swanson S.A., Casale G.P., Johanning J.M., Papoutsi E., Koutakis P., Miserlis D., Zhu Z., Pipinos I.I.	Journal of Surgical Research	11.18.13
Human enterovirus in the gastrocnemius of patients with peripheral arterial disease	Kim J.K., Zhu Z., Casale G., Koutakis P., McComb R.D., Swanson S., Thompson J., Miserlis D., Johanning J.M., Haynatzki G., Pipinos I.I.	Journal of the American Heart Association	08.06.13
Oxidative Damage and Myofiber Degeneration in the Gastrocnemius of Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease	Weiss D.J., Casale G.P., Koutakis P., Nella A.A., Swanson S.A., Zhu Z., Miserlis D., Johanning J.M., Pipinos I.	Journal of Translational Medicine	09.25.13
Landing ground reaction forces in figure skaters and non-skaters	Saunders N.W., Hanson N., Koutakis P, Chaudhari A.M., Devor S.T.	Journal of Sports Sciences	01.01.14
Myofiber Type Sensitivity of Gastrocnemius Muscle to Oxidative Stress in Peripheral Arterial Disease Patients	Koutakis P., Weiss D.J., Nella A.A., Miserlis D., Shostrom V.K., Papoutsi E., Ha D.M., Carpenter L.A., McComb R.D., Casale G.P., Pipinos I.I.	Redox Biology	07.19.14
Surface-enhanced Raman spectral biomarkers correlate with Ankle Brachial Index and characterize leg muscle biochemical composition of patients with peripheral arterial disease	Cluff K., Kelly A.M., Koutakis P., He X.N., Huang X., Lu Y.F., Pipinos I.I., Casale G.P, Subbiah J.	Physiological Reports	09.17.14
Protein Concentration and Mitochondrial Content in the Gastrocnemius Predicts Mortality Rates in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease	Thompson J.R., Swanson S.A., Haynatzki G., Koutakis P., Johanning J.M., Reppert P.R., Papoutsi E., Miserlis D., Zhu Z., Casale G.P., Pipinos I.I.	Annals of Surgery	03.04.15
Reliability and Validity of a Wireless Accelerometer for the Assessment of Postural Sway	Saunders N.W., Koutakis P., Kloos A.D., Kegelmeyer D.A., Dicke J.D., Devor S.T.	Journal of Applied Biomechanics	01.05.15
Abnormal accumulation of desmin in gastrocnemius myofibers of patients with peripheral artery disease: associations with altered myofiber morphology and density, mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired limb function	Koutakis P., Casale G.P., Kim J.K., Miserlis D., Zhu Z., Papoutsi E., Ha D.M., Swanson S.A., Carpenter L.A., Myers S.A., Johanning J.M, Pipinos I.I.	Histochemistry and Cytochemistry	01.09.15
Abnormal Myofiber Morphology and Limb Dysfunction in Claudication	Koutakis P., Myers S.A, Cluff K., Ha D.M., Haynatzki G., McComb R.D., Uchida K., Miserlis D., Papoutsi E., Johanning J.M., Casale G.P., Pipinos I.I.	Journal of Surgical Research	06.01.15
Patient Demographics And Cardiovascular Risk Factors Differentially Influence Geometric Remodeling Of The Aorta Compared To The Peripheral Arteries	Kamenskiy A., Miserlis D., Adamson P., Adamson M., Knowles T., Neme J., Koutakis P., Philips N., Pipinos I., MacTaggart J.	Surgery	06.19.15
An endovascular model of ischemic myopathy from peripheral arterial disease	Long C.A., Timmins L.H., Koutakis P., Goodchild T.T., Lefer D.J., Pipinos I.I., Casale G.P., Brewster L.P.	Journal of Vascular Surgery	02.04.16
Premature aortic smooth muscle cell differentiation contributes to matrix dysregulation in Marfan Syndrome	Dale M., Fitzgerald M.P., Liu Z., Meisinger T., Karpisek A., Purcell L.N., Carson J.S., Harding P., Lang H., Koutakis P., Batra R., Mietus C.J., Casale G., Pipinos I., Baxter B.T., Xiong W.	PLoS One	10.17.17
Chloroquine improves the response to ischemic muscle injury and increases HMGB1 after arterial ligation	Xu J., Cui X., Li J., Koutakis P., Pipinos I., Tzeng E., Chen A., Sachdev U.	Journal of Vascular Surgery	03.12.18
Quantification of Daily Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior of Claudicating Patients	Hernandez H., Myers S.A., Schieber M., Ha D.M., Baker S., Koutakis P., Kim K.S., Mietus C., Casale G.P., Pipinos I.I.	Annals of Vascular Surgery	08.13.18
Altered Metabolomic Profile in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease	Ismaeel A., Franco M.E., Lavado R., Papoutsi E., Casale G.P., Fuglestad M., Mietus C.J., Haynatzki G.R., Smith R.S., Bohannon W.T., Sawicki I., Pipinos I.I., Koutakis P.	Journal of Clinical Medicine	09.14.19

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4014 William Johnston Bldg.
143 Honors Way
Tallahassee, FL 32301

850.644.1829