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Clinton Van't Land, PhD

  • Senior Staff Scientist

Dr. Van’t Land is a Senior Staff Scientist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the Division of Genetic and Genomic Medicine and serves as the Director of the Rangos Metabolic Core Facility. Dr. Van’t Land received his undergraduate training at the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology in Minneapolis, MN and received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. At the University of Washington, he trained under Dr. Heinz Floss in the biosynthesis of natural products from bacteria to evaluate the biosynthetic enzyme pathways of primary and secondary intermediates and their precursors. Isotope enriched enzyme products and pathway intermediates were isolated using chromatographic techniques and identified by NMR analysis.

To enhance his training in enzyme pathways, Dr. Van’t Land did his post-doctoral training at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) with Dr. Neal Castagnoli, Jr. and learned about the metabolic pathways of neurotransmitters by investigating the monoamine oxidase (MAO) metabolites of haloperidol and other neurotoxins. Dr. Van’t Land began a career as a senior scientist in the pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism group at Alcon Laboratories, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX. He conducted drug metabolism studies to evaluate the metabolic fate or biodisposition of prescription (R&D pipeline) drugs and biotherapeutics from biological samples derived from animals and man and in vitro mammalian subcellular fractions or cell cultures. His development of drugs for treatment of ocular disease involved the optimization of methods for metabolite profiling and identification (Met ID) and included the preparation of non labeled and radio labeled formulations, processing of biological samples, chromatographic separation using HPLC and UV/radiochemical detectors and tandem mass spectrometry.

He moved to the University of Pittsburgh and joined the Vockley Lab as a Senior Staff Scientist in 2017 and became the Director of the Rangos Metabolic Core Facility in 2019.

Education & Training

  • BS, Chemistry, University of Minnesota, 1986
  • PhD, Organic Chemistry, University of Washington, 1992
  • Postdoctorate, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, 1992-1994

Selected Publications

Vieira Neto E, Wang M, Szuminsky AJ, Ferraro L, Koppes E, Wang Y, Van't Land C, Mohsen AW, Zanatta G, El-Gharbawy AH, Anthonymuthu TS, Tyurina YY, Tyurin VA, Kagan V, Bayır H, Vockley J. Mitochondrial bioenergetics and cardiolipin remodeling abnormalities in mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency. JCI Insight. 2024 Sep 10;9(17):e176887. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.176887. PMID: 39088276; PMCID: PMC11385086.

Wang H, Stevens T, Lu J, Roberts A, Van't Land C, Muzumdar R, Gong Z, Vockley J, Prochownik EV. Body-Wide Inactivation of the Myc-Like Mlx Transcription Factor Network Accelerates Aging and Increases the Lifetime Cancer Incidence. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Sep;11(34):e2401593. doi: 10.1002/advs.202401593. Epub 2024 Jul 8. PMID: 38976573; PMCID: PMC11425880.

Casillo SM, Gatesman TA, Chilukuri A, Varadharajan S, Johnson BJ, David Premkumar DR, Jane EP, Plute TJ, Koncar RF, Stanton AJ, Biagi-Junior CAO, Barber CS, Halbert ME, Golbourn BJ, Halligan K, Cruz AF, Mansi NM, Cheney A, Mullett SJ, Van’t Land CV, Perez JL, Myers MI, Agrawal N, Michel JJ, Chang YF, Vaske OM, MichaelRaj A, Lieberman FS, Felker J, Shiva S, Bertrand KC, Amankulor N, Hadjipanayis CG, Abdullah KG, Zinn PO, Friedlander RM, Abel TJ, Nazarian J, Venneti S, Filbin MG, Gelhaus SL, Mack SC, Pollack IF, Agnihotri S. An ERK5-PFKFB3 axis regulates glycolysis and represents a therapeutic vulnerability in pediatric diffuse midline glioma. Cell Rep. 2024 Jan 23;43(1):113557. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113557. Epub 2023 Dec 18. PMID: 38113141.

Karunanidhi A, Basu S, Zhao XJ, D'Annibale O, Van't Land C, Vockley J, Mohsen AW. Heptanoic and medium branched-chain fatty acids as anaplerotic treatment for medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. Mol Genet Metab. 2023 Nov;140(3):107689. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2023.107689. Epub 2023 Aug 25. PMID: 37660571; PMCID: PMC10840664.

Wang H, Lu J, Stevens T, Roberts A, Mandel J, Avula R, Ma B, Wu Y, Wang J, Van’t Land CV, Finkel T, Vockley JE, Airik M, Airik R, Muzumdar R, Gong Z, Torbenson MS, Prochownik EV. Premature aging and reduced cancer incidence associated with near-complete body-wide Myc inactivation. Cell Rep. 2023 Aug 29;42(8):112830. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112830. Epub 2023 Jul 22. PMID: 37481724; PMCID: PMC10591215.

Zhao XJ, Mohsen AW, Mihalik S, Solo K, Basu S, Aliu E, Shi H, Kochersberger C, Karunanidhi A, Van't Land C, Coughlan KA, Siddiqui S, Rice LM, Hillier S, Guadagnin E, DeAntonis C, Giangrande PH, Martini PGV, Vockley J. Messenger RNA rescues medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in fibroblasts from patients and a murine model. Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Jul 4;32(14):2347-2356. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddad076. Erratum in: Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Aug 7;32(16):2679. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddad116. PMID: 37162351; PMCID: PMC10321387.

Zhao XJ, Mohsen AW, Mihalik S, Solo K, Aliu E, Shi H, Basu S, Kochersperger C, Van't Land C, Karunanidhi A, Coughlan KA, Siddiqui S, Rice LM, Hillier S, Guadagnin E, Giangrande PH, Martini PGV, Vockley J. Synthetic mRNA rescues very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in patient fibroblasts and a murine model. Mol Genet Metab. 2023 Jan;138(1):106982. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2022.106982. Epub 2022 Dec 23. PMID: 36580829; PMCID: PMC9877169.

D'Annibale OM, Phua YL, Van't Land C, Karunanidhi A, Dorenbaum A, Mohsen AW, Vockley J. Treatment of VLCAD-Deficient Patient Fibroblasts with Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor δ Agonist Improves Cellular Bioenergetics. Cells. 2022 Aug 24;11(17):2635. doi: 10.3390/cells11172635. PMID: 36078043; PMCID: PMC9454759.

Karunanidhi A, Van't Land C, Rajasundaram D, Grings M, Vockley J, Mohsen AW. Medium branched chain fatty acids improve the profile of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates in mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation deficient cells: A comparative study. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2022 May;45(3):541-556. doi: 10.1002/jimd.12480. Epub 2022 Feb 2. PMID: 35076099; PMCID: PMC9090965.

ORCID Record

Academic and Research Interests

Dr. Van’t Land serves as director of The University of Pittsburgh’s Rangos Metabolic Core Facility; a research resource in support of the analytical needs of investigators involved in the study of energy metabolism, metabolic pathways, and cellular metabolic function from animal tissues, biological fluids, and cell cultures with a focus on the role of mitochondrial metabolism in the pathogenesis of cancer, obesity, heart disease, fatty acid oxidation disorders, kidney injury, and other diseases. The Metabolic Core provides Instrument Services for analysis of 1) endogenous metabolic pathway intermediates or biomarkers from biological fluids, cell cultures, and tissues using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), 2) energy metabolism (cell bioenergetics) in “living” cells using a Seahorse® Analyzer, and 3) biomarkers/metabolites to quantitate pathway intermediates using HPLC with 3 detector options (ECD, UV-VIS, FLR).

References: Vieira Neto E, Wang M, Szuminsky AJ, Ferraro L, Koppes E, Wang Y, Van't Land C, Mohsen AW, Zanatta G, El-Gharbawy AH, Anthonymuthu TS, Tyurina YY, Tyurin VA, Kagan V, Bayır H, Vockley J. Mitochondrial bioenergetics and cardiolipin remodeling abnormalities in mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency. JCI Insight. 2024 Sep 10;9(17):e176887. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.176887. PMID: 39088276; PMCID: PMC11385086. Wang H, Stevens T, Lu J, Roberts A, Van't Land C, Muzumdar R, Gong Z, Vockley J, Prochownik EV. Body-Wide Inactivation of the Myc-Like Mlx Transcription Factor Network Accelerates Aging and Increases the Lifetime Cancer Incidence. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Sep;11(34):e2401593. doi: 10.1002/advs.202401593. Epub 2024 Jul 8. PMID: 38976573; PMCID: PMC11425880. Casillo SM, Gatesman TA, Chilukuri A, Varadharajan S, Johnson BJ, David Premkumar DR, Jane EP, Plute TJ, Koncar RF, Stanton AJ, Biagi-Junior CAO, Barber CS, Halbert ME, Golbourn BJ, Halligan K, Cruz AF, Mansi NM, Cheney A, Mullett SJ, Van’t Land CV, Perez JL, Myers MI, Agrawal N, Michel JJ, Chang YF, Vaske OM, MichaelRaj A, Lieberman FS, Felker J, Shiva S, Bertrand KC, Amankulor N, Hadjipanayis CG, Abdullah KG, Zinn PO, Friedlander RM, Abel TJ, Nazarian J, Venneti S, Filbin MG, Gelhaus SL, Mack SC, Pollack IF, Agnihotri S. An ERK5-PFKFB3 axis regulates glycolysis and represents a therapeutic vulnerability in pediatric diffuse midline glioma. Cell Rep. 2024 Jan 23;43(1):113557. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113557. Epub 2023 Dec 18. PMID: 38113141. Karunanidhi A, Basu S, Zhao XJ, D'Annibale O, Van't Land C, Vockley J, Mohsen AW. Heptanoic and medium branched-chain fatty acids as anaplerotic treatment for medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. Mol Genet Metab. 2023 Nov;140(3):107689. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2023.107689. Epub 2023 Aug 25. PMID: 37660571; PMCID: PMC10840664. Wang H, Lu J, Stevens T, Roberts A, Mandel J, Avula R, Ma B, Wu Y, Wang J, Van’t Land CV, Finkel T, Vockley JE, Airik M, Airik R, Muzumdar R, Gong Z, Torbenson MS, Prochownik EV. Premature aging and reduced cancer incidence associated with near-complete body-wide Myc inactivation. Cell Rep. 2023 Aug 29;42(8):112830. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112830. Epub 2023 Jul 22. PMID: 37481724; PMCID: PMC10591215. Zhao XJ, Mohsen AW, Mihalik S, Solo K, Basu S, Aliu E, Shi H, Kochersberger C, Karunanidhi A, Van't Land C, Coughlan KA, Siddiqui S, Rice LM, Hillier S, Guadagnin E, DeAntonis C, Giangrande PH, Martini PGV, Vockley J. Messenger RNA rescues medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in fibroblasts from patients and a murine model. Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Jul 4;32(14):2347-2356. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddad076. Erratum in: Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Aug 7;32(16):2679. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddad116. PMID: 37162351; PMCID: PMC10321387. Zhao XJ, Mohsen AW, Mihalik S, Solo K, Aliu E, Shi H, Basu S, Kochersperger C, Van't Land C, Karunanidhi A, Coughlan KA, Siddiqui S, Rice LM, Hillier S, Guadagnin E, Giangrande PH, Martini PGV, Vockley J. Synthetic mRNA rescues very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in patient fibroblasts and a murine model. Mol Genet Metab. 2023 Jan;138(1):106982. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2022.106982. Epub 2022 Dec 23. PMID: 36580829; PMCID: PMC9877169. D'Annibale OM, Phua YL, Van't Land C, Karunanidhi A, Dorenbaum A, Mohsen AW, Vockley J. Treatment of VLCAD-Deficient Patient Fibroblasts with Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor δ Agonist Improves Cellular Bioenergetics. Cells. 2022 Aug 24;11(17):2635. doi: 10.3390/cells11172635. PMID: 36078043; PMCID: PMC9454759. Karunanidhi A, Van't Land C, Rajasundaram D, Grings M, Vockley J, Mohsen AW. Medium branched chain fatty acids improve the profile of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates in mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation deficient cells: A comparative study. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2022 May;45(3):541-556. doi: 10.1002/jimd.12480. Epub 2022 Feb 2. PMID: 35076099; PMCID: PMC9090965.

Research Interest Keywords

  • Rangos Core Facility
  • Metabolic Core
  • Targeted Metabolomics
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Seahorse Analyzer
  • Acylcarnitine profiling
  • Amino Acid profiling
  • Serotonin 5-HT and 5-HIAA
  • SAM SAH
  • HPLC ECD UV FLR detectors
  • Cell Bioenergetics and energy metabolism OCR ECAR
  • Glycosaminoglycans heparin chondroitin disaccharides