Keir Menzies

Keir Menzies is a molecular biologist with a strong interest in aging and metabolism, as they relate to cellular NAD+ homeostasis. He received his MSc and PhD degrees from the Muscle Health Research Centre at York University under the supervision of Dr. David Hood, a Canada Research Chair specializing in exercise physiology, and his HBSc from the University of Toronto in biological chemistry. 

During his training, Professor Menzies helped describe the role of mitochondria and oxidative stress in skeletal muscle during aging, disuse and exercise. These studies included a variety of metabolism-related topics, including the role of the sirtuin proteins as regulators of mitochondrial function in muscle during aging and exercise. Further to this, his work in the field of sirtuins led to an award for the Best Article of the Year in Metabolism in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. 

Keir Menzies then completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Johan Auwerx, the Nestle Chair in Energy Metabolism at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, who has been included on the list of the 400 most influential biomedical researchers (European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2013). In Switzerland, Keir Menzies gained expertise in sirtuin signaling, NAD+ metabolism and genetics in round worms, mice, and humans.

Currently, Professor Menzies is undertaking an integrated systems physiology approach for examining various signaling mechanisms and translational methodologies to discover new treatment strategies and biomarkers for metabolic disorders and age-related diseases.

Learn more about Keir Menzies's laboratory.

• Keir J Menzies, Hongbo Zhang, Elena Katsyuba, Johan Auwerx: Protein acetylation in metabolism—metabolites and cofactors. Nature Reviews Endocrinology 10/2015;  DOI:10.1038/nrendo.2015.181
• Karim Gariani*, Keir J. Menzies*, Dongryeol Ryu, Casey J. Wegner, Xu Wang, Eduardo R. Ropelle, Norman Moullan, Hongbo Zhang, Alessia Perino, Vera Lemos, Bohkyung Kim, Young-Ki Park, Alessandra Piersigilli, Tho X. Pham, Yue Yang, Chai Siah Ku, Sung I. Koo, Anna Fomitchova, Carlos Cantó, Kristina Schoonjans, Anthony A. Sauve, Ji-Young Lee, Johan Auwerx: Eliciting the mitochondrial unfolded protein response via NAD+ repletion reverses fatty liver disease. Hepatology 09/2015;  DOI:10.1002/hep.28245
• Carles Canto*, Keir J Menzies*, Johan Auwerx: NAD+ Metabolism and the Control of Energy Homeostasis: A Balancing Act between Mitochondria and the Nucleus. Cell metabolism 06/2015; DOI:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.023
• Sokrates Stein, Maaike H Oosterveer, Chikage Mataki, Pan Xu, Vera Lemos, Rick Havinga, Claudia Dittner, Dongryeol Ryu, Keir J Menzies, Xu Wang, Alessia Perino, Sander M Houten, Frauke Melchior, Kristina Schoonjans: SUMOylation-Dependent LRH-1/PROX1 Interaction Promotes Atherosclerosis by Decreasing Hepatic Reverse Cholesterol Transport. Cell Metabolism 08/2014; 20(4). DOI:10.1016/j.cmet.2014.07.023
• Lo Sasso G, Menzies KJ, Adrienne Mottis, Alessandra Piersigilli, Alessia Perino, Hiroyasu Yamamoto, Kristina Schoonjans, Johan Auwerx: SIRT2 Deficiency Modulates Macrophage Polarization and Susceptibility to Experimental Colitis. PLoS ONE 07/2014; 9(7). DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0103573
• Eija Pirinen, Carles Cantó, Young Suk Jo, Laia Morato, Hongbo Zhang, Keir J Menzies, Evan G Williams, Laurent Mouchiroud, Norman Moullan, Carolina Hagberg, Wei Li, Silvie Timmers, Ralph Imhof, Jef Verbeek, Aurora Pujol, Barbara van Loon, Carlo Viscomi, Massimo Zeviani, Patrick Schrauwen, Anthony A Sauve, Kristina Schoonjans, Johan Auwerx: Pharmacological Inhibition of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerases Improves Fitness and Mitochondrial Function in Skeletal Muscle. Cell metabolism 05/2014; 19(6). DOI:10.1016/j.cmet.2014.04.002
• Keir Menzies, Johan Auwerx: An acetylation rheostat for the control of muscle energy homeostasis.. Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 09/2013;  DOI:10.1530/JME-13-0140
• Yuan Zhang, Sobia Iqbal, Michael F N O'Leary, Keir J Menzies, Ayesha Saleem, Shuzhe Ding, David A Hood: Altered mitochondrial morphology and defective protein import reveal novel roles for Bax and/or Bak in skeletal muscle. AJP Cell Physiology 06/2013; 305(5). DOI:10.1152/ajpcell.00058.2013
• Keir J Menzies, Kaustabh Singh, Ayesha Saleem, David A Hood: Sirtuin 1-mediated Effects of Exercise and Resveratrol on Mitochondrial Biogenesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 01/2013; 288(10). DOI:10.1074/jbc.M112.431155
• Olga Ostojic, Michael F N O'Leary, Kaustabh Singh, Keir J Menzies, Anna Vainshtein, David A Hood: The effects of chronic muscle use and disuse on cardiolipin metabolism. Journal of Applied Physiology 12/2012; 114(4). DOI:10.1152/japplphysiol.01312.2012
• Keir J Menzies, Beatrice Chabi, David A Hood, Simon Schenk, Andrew Philp, Andrew Philip, Valdir A Braga, Drielle Dantas Guimaraes: Commentaries on viewpoint: does SIRT1 determine exercise-induced skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis: differences between in vitro and in vivo experiments? Journal of Applied Physiology 03/2012; 112(5):929-30. DOI:10.1152/japplphysiol.00094.2012
• Keir J Menzies, David A Hood: The role of SirT1 in muscle mitochondrial turnover. Mitochondrion. Mitochondrion 03/2011; 12(1):5-13. DOI:10.1016/j.mito.2011.03.001
• Vladimir Ljubicic, Keir J Menzies, David A Hood: Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with a pro-apoptotic cellular environment in senescent cardiac muscle. Mechanisms of ageing and development 02/2010; 131(2):79-88. DOI:10.1016/j.mad.2009.12.004
• Beatrice Chabi, Peter J Adhihetty, Michael F N O'Leary, Keir J Menzies, David A Hood: Relationship between Sirt1 expression and mitochondrial proteins during conditions of chronic muscle use and disuse. Journal of Applied Physiology 10/2009; 107(6):1730-5. DOI:10.1152/japplphysiol.91451.2008
• Keir J Menzies, Brian H Robinson, David A Hood: Effect of thyroid hormone on mitochondrial properties and oxidative stress in cells from patients with mtDNA defects. AJP Cell Physiology 12/2008; 296(2):C355-62. DOI:10.1152/ajpcell.00415.2007
• Béatrice Chabi, Vladimir Ljubicic, Keir J Menzies, Julianna H Huang, Ayesha Saleem, David A Hood: Mitochondrial function and apoptotic susceptibility in aging skeletal muscle. Aging cell 02/2008; 7(1):2-12. DOI:10.1111/j.1474-9726.2007.00347.x