The Faculty
Peter F. Blackmore, Ph.D. Studies in this laboratory on the non-genomic actions of steroid hormones in human platelets have shown that several progesterone metabolites (e.g., pregnanolone and pregnanediol) are platelet activators. Progesterone metabolites are elevated during pregnancy and this may be one of the reasons for increased thrombosis during the third trimester and postpartum. We have also been investigating the mechanism by which the phytoestrogenic compound trans-resveratrol (TR), which is found in appreciable quantities in grape skins and wine, is able to inhibit platelet aggregation both in vivo and in vitro. We have shown that TR inhibits calcium influx through store-operated calcium channels (SOCC) in thrombin-stimulated platelets. We have also been studying the mechanism by which 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate inhibits thrombin mediated calcium influx into platelets. This compound was believed to inhibit the release of calcium via the inositol phosphate receptor
channel; however, our studies show that it also directly blocks the SOCC.
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Anca D. Dobrian, Ph.D. Research interests include the role of reactive oxygen species in the pathology of hypertension in obesity, type II diabetes and
atherosclerosis. We are also interested in the end organ damage in hypertension and the role of peroxizome proliferator activating receptors in the mesangial cell hypertrophy and proliferation.
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Yuliya
Dobrydneva, Ph.D. Research is on modulators of calcium channels
in platelets, non-genomic effects of non-steroidal estrogens and
phytoestrogens, and the mechanism of tamoxifen-induced thrombosis.
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Eva Forgacs, Ph.D.
Biochemical and functional studies of muscle and non-muscle myosins.
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Terry Jacot, Ph.D.
Research in the laboratory focuses on IGF-1's regulation of renal
funtion using renal vascular smooth muscle cells and proximal tubular
cells as it pertains to the regulation of GFR and tubular function in
acute renal failure and diabetic nephropathy. The interplay between
IGF-1 and nitric oxide in these pathophysiological conditions is also
investigated.
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Ali Khraibi, Ph.D.
Research is on the role of renal mechanisms in pregnancy and in hypertension.
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Frank A. Lattanzio, Ph.D. General research interests include fluorescence, muscle contractility, ischemia and
arrhythmogenesis. Specific interests include the effects of cocaine on the fetal and neonatal systems, ocular hypertension and the development and use of cardiovascular models, instrumentation and isolated cardiovascular preparations.
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Russell L. Prewitt, Ph.D. Director of the Cardiovascular and Renal Research Center. Research interests include vascular remodeling in hypertension, mechanotransduction of a pressure stimulus and the renin-angiotensin system.
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Michael Solhaug M.D. Our overall objective is the examination of the factors that promote the newborn's unique renal hemodynamic state and the mechanisms regulating these factors during postnatal maturation. This newborn renal condition is sustained by a balance between highly activated vasoconstrictors, such as Angiotensin II,
AII, and the counter-acting vasodilator nitric oxide, NO. Our lab currently is exploring the role of NO in the immature kidney through the study of two isoforms of nitric oxide
synthase, neuronal, nNOS, and endothelial, eNOS, and their regulation during postnatal renal maturation by AII via its receptor subtypes AT1 and AT2. Gaining an understanding of the role of NO and its regulatory mechanisms in the immature kidney may provide insights into creating therapies directed at the prevention or treatment of pathologic renal conditions, such as
ARF, in the neonate.
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Howard White Ph.D. The focus of the research in this laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanism of motor protein function - how the energy of ATP hydrolysis is converted to mechanical work for use in muscle and by intracellular transport. The primary experimental approaches used in this work are rapid biochemical kinetics (stopped-flow fluorescence and rapid chemical quench), millisecond time-resolved
cryo-electron microscopy (in collaboration with John Trinick's laboratory at Leeds University), and site directed mutagenesis of muscle proteins.
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Patricia B. Williams, Ph.D. Interests in this laboratory include both the facilitation and inhibition of
angiogenesis. After 25 years of studying peripheral collateral circulation, current studies are centered around inhibition of ocular vascular
neogenesis. Specific interests include abnormal corneal
neovascularization, cornea transplants, wound healing, retinal blood flow and development of novel therapies for management of glaucoma.
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