Physiology and Pharmacology : News

NEW CHAIRMAN OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY We are pleased to announce Nader Abraham, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology.  Dr. Abraham currently is Professor and Director of Gene Therapy in the Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine at New York Medical College.  He did his graduate work and received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and his postdoctoral work at The Rockefeller University. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Abraham officially as he joins our faculty on or about September 1, 2009.  Further details regarding Dr. Abraham will be posted at this site in the near future.   TWO LONG-RUNNING NIH-SUPPORTED RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY ARE RENEWED! Amid the economic down-turn, uncertain times, and UT’s budget difficulties, good news is easily pushed aside by bad news.  Trying to oppose this trend, we are proud to announce that during April, 2009, we received two Notices of Grant Awards from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), indicating the competitive renewals of Dr. Bina Joe’s R01 HL020176-32 grant entitled “Genetic Elements Controlling Blood Pressure”, and Dr. Amir Askari’s P01 HL036573-21 grant entitled: “Digitalis-Induced Signaling by Cardiac Na+/K+-ATPase”.  As the NIH-designated numbers of these grants indicate, Dr. Joe’s R01 (an individual research grant) is in its 32nd year of funding, and Dr. Askari’s P01 (a Program Project Grant, PPG) is in its 21st year of funding.  We think that the two grants are also the longest running (each in its type) in the history of UT-COM (MCO/MUO).  Dr. Joe’s R01 provides a total (direct and indirect) of $2,349,315 for the next 4 years; and the PPG provides a total of $7,285,188 for the next 5 years.  Following are descriptions and brief histories of the two grants: Dr. Bina Joe’s R01 focuses on the genetics of hypertension, a project that was spearheaded by Dr. John Paul Rapp (Professor Emeritus of Physiology and Pharmacology) in 1977.  Besides establishing fundamental concepts in conducting genetic experiments using mammalian models, the initial pay-offs of Dr. Rapp’s research were the development of two inbred strains, the hypertensive Dahl salt-sensitive (S) and the relatively normotensive Dahl salt-resistant (R) rats. The S rat in particular is one of the most widely used models of experimental hypertension in the world. Through sustained genetic analysis of the S rat, sixteen different genomic segments of the rat genome were initially identified by Dr. Rapp and his colleagues as regions that contain genes that causally influence blood pressure.  Since 2004, when Dr. Joe took charge as the principal investigator of this project, several of these projects have rapidly advanced towards positional cloning.  The goal of the newly renewed proposal is to further improve the resolution of mapping these regions and identify the underlying genetic elements that control blood pressure.  Equipped with the experience of having identified one such genetic element as being linked to both rat and human hypertension, Dr. Joe looks forward to leading this research project into similar discoveries of translational significance in the near future. Dr. Amir Askari’s PPG, always focused on the cardiac drug receptors and proteins involved in heart failure and ischemic heart disease, was first funded in 1987. At its inception this PPG, with Dr. Askari as PI, consisted of four related projects and two cores headed by faculty members in the Departments of Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Medicine of MCO.  Through four renewals, due to rapid advances in biomedical sciences, the component projects and their leaders have changed, and the cores have evolved, in order to retain the PPG’s competitive edge.  The just-renewed version consists of three projects and two cores involving the efforts of five members of Physiology/Pharmacology faculty (Drs. Amir Askari, Bina Joe, Lijun Liu, Sandrine Pierre, and ZiJian Xie), and Dr. Keith Garlid of the Portland State University (a former colleague at MCO).  Over the years, this PPG has supported the research laboratories of numerous faculty, also serving as a training base for countless pre- and post-doctoral fellows who are now practicing scientists throughout the world.  To cite a notable example, Dr. ZiJian Xie, a most prominent member of the present PPG team, and a world-renowned leader of his field, received his early training in different laboratories supported by this PPG.  Congratulations to Dr. Eric Morgan     Dr. Eric Morgan, Postdoctoral Fellow, was approved for funding from the Research Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) of a GRA Spring 09 Postdoctoral Fellowship.  The proposal is entitled:  “The role of CEACAM1 in the Regulation of Cardiac Fatty Acid Metabolism” (7/1/2009 through 6/30/2011). Dr. Bina Joe receives NIH Grant     Congratulations to Dr. Bina Joe, UT Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology on the Health Science Campus.  Dr. Joe has received a four-year research award (4/1/09 - 3/31/13) from the National Institutes of Health (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) entitled: "Genetic Elements Controlling Blood Pressure". 2009 Graduate Research Forum Congratulations to Yiliang Chen - selected as the 1st place winner at the 2009 Graduate Research Forum on the Health Science Campus.  Yiliang, a CVMD PhD student working in the laboratory of Dr. Zi-Jian Xie, will receive $500.  The 3 winners were determined from among the 6 finalists after discussing their work with the judges for over 2 hours.  The judges were Dr. Akira Takashima, Professor and Chairman of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Dr. Johnnie Early, Dean and Professor, College of Pharmacy, and Dr. Jeremy Rich, Chair of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. The other winners were: Mithun Khattar, Infection, Immunity, and Transplantation (IIT) Track, 2nd place ($300), Dr. Stepkowski's lab Yutein (Andy) Chun, Infection, Immunity, and Transplantation (IIT) Track, 3rd place ($200), Dr. Wooten's lab

M.D./Ph.D. Student Receives Individual Pre-Doctoral Training Fellowship from NIDA Congratulations to Damien E. Earl, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate, a student in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders track in the Neuropharmacology/Neuroscience laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth I. Tietz, is the recipient of an Individual Pre-doctoral National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).  The five-year training fellowship submitted by Mr. Earl supports his studies of the regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels during chronic BZ treatment. Dr. Tietz, Professor and Vice-Chair of Physiology and Pharmacology and Dr. David Giovannucci, Associate Professor of Neurosciences are co-sponsors of the award.  Two former M.D./Ph.D. students in the neuroscience graduate program and the Tietz lab, Scott M. Lilly, M.D./Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania and Bradley Van Sickle, M.D./Ph.D, Vanderbilt University were also recipients of NRSAs from NIDA.  See the article "UT students receive prestigious NIH fellowship awards” in the UTNews (March 30, 2009).

Congratulations to Dr. Jiang Tian  Dr. Tian has received approval for funding by the American Heart Association (National Clinical Program) entitled:  “Endogenous Cardiotonic Steroids, A New Risk Factor of Adverse Cardiac Events in Patients with Renal Artery Stenosis” (1/1/2009-12/31/2010).

UT (Department of Physiology and Pharmacology) and Medical College of Georgia researchers win grant to continue studies into cell membrane repair

A team of scientists at The University of Toledo and the Medical College of Georgia has received a two-year, $360,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to learn more about the function of enzymes called calpains in repairing damaged cell membranes.  The grant will allow the principal investigator, Dr. Ronald Mellgren, professor of physiology and pharmacology, to continue his collaborative studies with a team of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia headed by Dr. Paul McNeil, aimed at understanding the role of the calcium-requiring, protein-digesting enzymes.

Congratulations to Dr. Beata Lecka-Czernik whose research award application, "Prevention of TZD-induced bone loss and improvement of TZD-affected bone fracture healing," was approved for funding by the American Diabetes Association.   See the article on the UTNews (February 12, 2009).

November 13, 2008: Department meets for dinner to celebrate the retirement of Dr. Doug Wilkerson

Dr. Askari reviews Doug's long history with the department and institution, which included a successful research career, teaching of pharmacology and as head of Research and Grants Administration overseeing and assisting faculty throughout the instituion in gaining research grants (see below).

Left: Doug admiring one of the gifts presented to him, a water color painting by Paul Brand, PhD, a well-known local artist, who also happens to be a long-time member of our department.  Right: Eddie Sanchez, Paul Brand and Pat Metting

October 2, 2008: Wilkerson and Xie receive awards at Annual Faculty Recognition Dinner

Dr. Doug Wilkerson received a career achievemnt award.  He joined the Pharmacology Department in 1979.  Since 1991, he has promoted research in the institution as Vice-President for Research Administration and more recently added the duties of Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Medicine.  Despite his many responsiblities, he has always reserved time to teach pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular pharmacology to medical students.  Dr. Wilkerson will retire in January.  Congratulations Doug, the department wishes you the best for the next phase of your life and thanks you for all you have done over the years.  See UTNews article Oct 13, 2008	Dr. ZiJian Xie received the College of Medicine Award for Sustained Research (see below) for his work on the role of the Na+/K+ ATPase in signal transduction independent of its role as the cell's "sodium pump".  Congratulations and well done Jian!
Dr. ZiJian Xie receives the Award for Sustained Research from Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Dean of the College of Medicine

Dr. Bina Joe receives NIH Grant to Support Hypertension Research

September 4, 2008: Zhichuan Li successfully defends his dissertation

Congratulations to Zhichuan Li who successfully defended his Doctor of Physiology dissertation in Biomedical Sciences (Concentration in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases) on September 4.  The title of his dissertation was the Na/K-ATPase Signaling:  from Bench to Bedside.  Zhichuan gave an excellent presentation of his very interesting project. 

        Zhichuan Li and Dr. Zi-Jian Xie

June 27, 2008: The 35th Annual Pharmacology Colloquium in Ann Arbor

Thirty-five students and 6 faculty members of the Physiology and Pharmacology Department and CVMD graduate track attended the 35th Annual Pharmacology Research Colloquium held this year in the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  This colloquium brings together graduate students and faculty from the “pharmacology” departments of the Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and the University of Toledo, College of Medicine for a day long scientific program.  This year faculty from the four schools judged the posters and talks.  Five out of the 6 selected finalists among the posters were students from the CVMD track.  These were Zhichuan Li in ZiJian Xie's lab, Sima Rahman in Beata Lecka-Czernik's lab, Gargi Roy in Robert Wang's lab, Katye Smedland in Guillermo Vazquez lab, and Cory Stebal in Sandrine Pierre's lab.  Congratulations to all of you!  As icing on the cake, Gargi Roy was awarded first place and will recieve a check for $300 and an enscribed plaque will be sent to display in the department until next year when the colloquium will be held at Wayne State university in Detroit.  (More details and pictures of the event)  

	Congratulations! to Dr. Kathirvel Gopalakrishnan Dr. Gopalakrishnan's research abstract entitled 'Detection Of Polymorphisms In Predicted Precursor MicroRNAs: Implications On A Blood Pressure Quantitative Trait Locus With Alleles Of A Normotensive Rat Increasing Hypertension Of The Dahl Salt-Sensitive (S) Rat' has been accepted for oral presentation at the  63rd International High Blood Pressure Research Conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago, IL, September 23 - 26, 2009.  Dr. Gopalakrishnan is a postdoctoral Researcher in Dr. Bina Joe's laboratory.
	Congratulations! to Dr. Paromita Das Paromita Das, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow submitted an abstract to the Neuropharmacology Division Postdoctoral Award Competition has been selected for presentation at the EB09 meeting in New Orleans in the Neuropharmacology Division Postdoctoral Scientists Award Finalists Session to be held on Tuesday, April 21 from 2:30-5:00 PM in the New Orleans Convention Center.    A panel of judges will select the 3  best presentations. The winners will be announced at the Neuropharmacology Division mixer which will follow the Session and will receive cash awards.  Dr. Das works with Dr. Elizabeth Tietz.
	Congratulations! to Hussein Bagalb Hussein successfully defended his M.S.B.S. degree entitled: "Cellular and Molecular Biological Studies of Breast Milk Transmitted Retrovirus Induced Lymphomagensis in a Mouse Model" on September 15, 2008.  Hussein's advisor is Dr. Joana Chakraborty.
	Congratulations! to Damien Earl Damien Earl, M.D./Ph.D. candidate, along with two other Ph.D. candidates (Trisha Dwyer and Liping Wang) have a review paper in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience, the official periodical of the Society of Neuroscience, entitled "The Utility of a New In Vitro Model of the Stroke Penumbra".  Damien is working on his Ph.D. studies with Dr. Elizabeth Tietz.
	Congratulations! to Payal Patel Payal Patel, Ph.D. candidate, in Dr. Sonia Najjar's lab presented a poster entitled, "A novel role for CEACAM1 in the regulation of insulin action by dietary fat", at the Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, June 15-18, 2008.
	Congratulations! to Jehnan Liu Jehnan Liu, M.D./Ph.D. candidate, in Dr. Sonia Najjar's lab had his abstract entitled  "CEACAM2: A Protective Role Against Diet Induced Insulin Resistance" accepted for presentation as a poster at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 68th Scientific Session, June 6-10, 2008 in San Francisco, California.
	Congratulations! to Carmen Quatman Carmen Quatman, a fourth-year M.D./Ph.D. candidate, has received a $5,000 grant from the American College of Sports Medicine Foundation to further develop a mathematical model to learn more about the biomechanics of ACL injuries and to determine why women are more susceptible to ACL tears that can sideline athletes for up to one year.  Carmen is working on the study with Dr. Vijay Goel, adjunct professor of orthopedic surgery, the McMaster-Gardner Professor of Orthopedic Bioengineering, and co-director of the Engineering Center for Orthopedic Research Excellence on the Main and Health Science campuses.  Carmen is working on her Ph.D. studies in Dr. Sonia Najjar's lab.
	Congratulations! to Gargi Roy Gargi Roy, Ph.D. Candidate, in Xiaodong (Robert) Wang's lab was awarded first place at the 35th Annual Pharmacology Colloquium at the University of Michigan (June 27, 2008).  She recieved a check for $300 and an enscribed plaque will be sent to display in the department until next year when the colloquium will be held at Wayne State university in Detroit.
	Congratulations! to Edward Toland Ed Toland, Ph.D. Candidate, was selected and gave an oral presentation at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Complex Trait Consortium, May 31-June 3, 2008, Montreal, Canada.  His presentation was entitled "Multiple Quantitative Trait Loci on Rat Chromosome 9 in which Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat Alleles Confer a Reduction in Blood Pressure of a Salt-Sensitive Model" Dr. Bina Joe (Major Advisor).
	Congratulations! Dr. Askari Dr. Amir Askari, Professor and Chairman, was recipient of the Graduate School's Alumni Award of Distinction at Cornell University, Thursday, May 29, 2008 when the Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences held commencement exercises at Manhattan's famed Carnegie Hall.
	Congratulations! to Garrett Heinrich Garrett Heinrich, Ph.D. Candidate, in Dr. Sonia Najjar's lab (CeDER) has been awarded a Predoctoral Fellowship from Great Rivers Affiliate Research Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA), the application is entitled, "CEACAM2: A Novel Mechanism of Diabetes and Complications" (July 2007 - June 2009).
	Congratulations! to Jehnan Liu Jehnan Liu, M.D./Ph.D. Candidate, in Dr. Sonia Najjar's lab (CeDER) has been awarded the Physician Scientist Training Award for the application, "CEACAM2: A Novel Mechanism of Diabetes and Complications" from the American Diabetes Association.
	Congratulations! to Eric E. Morgan, Ph.D. Eric E. Morgan, Ph.D. was awarded the 2008 Caroline tum Suden/Francis Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award at the Experimental Biology Meeting. Dr. Morgan (left) is shown receiving this award from Jane F. Reckelhoff, Ph.D, Chair of the Women in Physiology Committee. The Caroline tum Suden Professional Opportunity Award is a fellowship that enabled Dr. Morgan to present his work at the Experimental Biology Meeting in San Diego this April 5-9, 2008 and an article was recently published in The Physiologist 51(4):141, 2008. He presented a poster entitled “In vivo assessment of resting and catecholamine stimulated cardiac function in rat models of low and high aerobic running capacity.” These experiments were conducted in Dr. George Cicila’s laboratory in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology while Dr. Morgan was a medical student. Dr. Morgan is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cardiovascular Physiology Core Laboratory of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, working under Dr. Sandrine Pierre.
	Congratulations! to Tanoya Harris Tanoya Harris, Ph.D. candidate has been awarded a 3-year graduate student fellowship award suppported by NIH and sponsored by Dr. Zi-Jian Xie (Major Advisor).

Recent Grants:

• Dr. Ronald Mellgren (Principal Investigator), has been awarded an R21 research grant from NIH (2008-2010) entitled: "Role of calpains in plasma membrane repair".   Dr. Mellgren award was recently reported in the UTNEWS (November 3, 2008, Vol. 9, Issue 1).
• Dr. Bina Joe (Principal Investigator) has been awarded a R01 NIH Grant (2008-2012) entitled "Genetics of Hypertension".
• Dr. Zi-Jian Xie (Co-Investigator) has been awarded an International Cooperative Project Grant funded by the Science and Technology Minister, P.R. China (2008-2010) entitled:  "Membrane Transporters as Signal Transducer and New Drug Targets".  Dr. Si Shu-Yi is Principal Investigator at the Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
• Dr. Joana Chakraborty (Principal Investigator) has been awarded funding from the Douglass Foundation (2007-2008), entitled "Retroviral Genome Integration Causing Lymphoma".
• Dr. Zijian Xie (Principal Investigator) has been awarded a R01 NIH Grant (2007-2011) entitled: "Na,K-ATPase as an Integrator of the Calcium-Signaling Machinery".
• Dr. George Cicila (Principal Investigator) has been awarded an Ohio Pilot Research Grant, from the American Cancer Society (2007-2008), entitled “Rtel1 Allelic Differences Associated with Telomere Length Differences in a Rat Genetic Model”.
• Dr. Guillermo Vazquez (Principal Investigator) has been awarded a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association (2007-2011) entitled: “Receptor Dependent Regulation of Calcium Permeable TRPC1 and TRPC3 Cation Channels in Human Coronary Artery Endothelium”.
• Dr. Gretchen Tietjen (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Bina Joe (Co-Investigator) have been awarded the Translational Stimulatory Research Award-UTHSC (2007-2009) Toledo, Ohio entitled: "Endothelial Dysfunction in Migraine".
• Dr. Xiaodong (Robert) Wang (Principal Investigator) has been awarded a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association (2007-2010) entitled: “Immunophilins regulate the export of ion channels from the endoplasmic reticulum”.

• Dr. Lijun Liu an invited speaker to the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy Seminar Series, in the Department of Pharmacology on February 19, 2009, presented "Sodium Pump: A New Target for Cardiac Hypertrophy".
• Dr. Bina Joe invited to give a presentation entitled "Under Pressure to Find Genes Controlling Blood Pressure" to the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy Seminar Series, in the Department of Pharmacy, Medicinal and BIological Chemistry on February 19, 2009. 
• Dr. Edith Mensah-Osman and Dr. Guillermo Vazquez were invited speakers at the Network of Minority Research Investigators (NMRI) a sponsor of the National Intitute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), November 12-14, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.
• Dr. Bina Joe was an invited speaker at the American Heart Association, Cardiovascular Section in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 8-12, 2008.  The educational session was entitled "Genetics of Hypertension:  How Far Have We Come and What Does the Future Hold?"
• Dr. Xiaodong (Robert) Wang an invited speaker participated in a 25-minute presentation at the 22nd Annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Orlando, Florida on October 22-23, 2008.
• Dr. Zijian Xie an invited speaker at the 40th Brazilian Congress on Pharmacology and Therapeutic Studies gave a presentation entitled: "Na/K-ATPase in Cell Signal Transduction" in Aguas de Lindoia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Octoaber 16-19, 2008.
• Dr. Sandrine Pierre gave a presentation entitled: "Signaling Through the Cardiac Digitalis Receptor: When, How, and What For?" at the 40th Brazilian Congress on Pharmacology and Therapeutic Studies in Aguas de Lindoia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Octoaber 16-19, 2008.  
• Dr. Edwin Sanchez, an invited speaker, gave a presentation entitled "TPR Proteins: A Modulatory Cartel Controlling the Tissue-Specific Actions of Steroid Receptors" at the 4th International Conference on The Hsp90 Chaperone Machine in Monastery Seon, Germany September 2-6, 2008.  Terry Hinds, Ph.D. Candidate, in the Sanchez lab also presented an abstract entitled "Differential Control of GR Regulated Genes by TPR Proteins". 
• Dr. Bina Joe has been invited to give a presentation in the session entitled "Genomics of Model Organisms" at the 13th International Genome Organization Meeting (September 27-30, 2008) held at Hyderabad, India.
• Dr. Nikolai Modyanov, an invited speaker, gave a presentation entitled "Evolution tranformed NaK-ATPase bm-subunit into a muscle-specific regulator of transcription in placental mammals" at the 12th International ATPase Conference on "Na,K-ATPase and Related Transport ATPases of P-type:  Structures, Mechanisms, and Roles in Health and Disease at Arrhus Universitet (Aarhus, Denmark) August 5-10, 2008.
• Dr. Zijian Xie was an invited speaker at the 12th International ATPase Conference on "Na,K-ATPase and Related Transport ATPases of P-type:  Structures, Mechanisms, and Roles in Health and Disease at Arrhus Universitet (Aarhus, Denmark) August 5-10, 2008.  Dr. Zie's presentation was entitled:  Na/K-ATP in Cell Signal Transduction".
• Dr. Sonia Najjar, an invited spreaker, gave a presentation at the American Diabetes Association's 68th Scientific Session in San Francisco, California on June 6-10, 2008.  Dr. Najjar's presentation was entitled: "CEACAM Hepatic Insulin Clearance and Insulin Resistance".
• Dr. Xiaodong (Robert) Wang, an invited speaker, presented a seminar to the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 29, 2008.  Dr. Wang's presentation was entitled "The life of CFTR at reduced temperature".
• Dr. Edward Sanchez was an invited to speaker at the International Meeting “Steroid Sisters, Keystone Symposia”, British Columbia, Canada, April 2008.
• Dr. Zijian Xie was an invited speaker at Yale University, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, on January 31, 2008.  His presentation was entitled:  "The Na/K-ATPase/Src Complex and Cellular Pump/Leak Coupling".
• Dr. Zijian Xie was an invited speaker at Prassis Istituto di Ricerche sigma-tau spa in Milan, Italy, December 14, 2007.  His presentation was entitled: ""Na/K-ATPase and Signal Transduction".
• Dr. Zijian Xie was an invited speaker at the Ibero-American Congress on Cell Biology, Mexico City, Mexico, November 16-20, 2007.  His presentation was entitled:  "Na/K-ATPase Beta and Signal Transduction".
• Dr. John W. Turner, Jr. was invited and presented an abstract entitled:  "The real-world picture of deer fertility control",  Presented at the 34th Annual Natural Areas Conference, Cleveland, OH, October 9-12, 2007.
• Dr. John W. Turner, Jr. was invited and presented an abstract entitled:  "Controlled-Release Components of PZP Contraceptive Vaccine Extend Duration of Infertility" at the 6th International Conference on Wildlife Contraception, September 3-5, 2007, York, United Kingdom.
• Dr. Ronald Mellgren Co-Chaired the "Biochemistry of Calpains" session at the FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Biology of Calpains in Health and Disease"; Snowmass Village, Colorado, July 14 to 19, 2007. Dr. Mellgren presented a talk on "The role of calpains in plasma membrane repair".

Recent Publications:

• Lupica, S.L. and J.W. Turner, Jr. Validation of an ELISA for measurement of faecal cortisol in fishes. Aquaculture Research 40:437-441, 2009.
• Cicila, G.T., E.E. Morgan, S.J. Lee, P. Farms, S. Yerga-Woolwine, E.J. Toland, R.S. Ramdath, K. Gopalakrishnan, K. Bohman, A.L. Nestor-Kalinoski, S.A. Chuder, and B. Joe.  Epistatic Genetic Determination of Blood Pressure and Mortality in a Salt-Sensitivie Hypertension Model.  Hypertension DOI:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.126649, 2009. 
• Garlid, K.D., A.D. Costa, C.L. Quinlan, S.V. Pierre, P. Dos Santos.  Cardioprotective signaling to mitochondria.  J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2008 Dec 11. [Epub ahead of print].
• Tian, J. and Xie, Z.J.  (2008) The Na-K-ATPase and calcium-signaling microdomains.  Physiology (Bethesda). Aug; 23:205-11. Review.
• Pierre, S.V., P. Lesnik, M. Moreau, L. Bonello, M.T. Droy-Lefaix, S. Sennoune, M.J. Duran, T.A. Pressley, J. Sampol, J. Chapman, and J.M. Maixent.  The standardized Ginkgo biloba extract Egb-761 protects vascular endothelium exposed to oxidized low density lipoproteins.  Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2008 Oct 26; 54:1032-1042 Suppl:OL1032-42. 
• Xiang, K., Earl, D.E. Davis, K. Giovannucci, D.R., Greenfield, Jr., L.J. and Tietz, E.I. Chronic benzodiazepine administration potentiates high voltage-activated calcium currents in hippocampal CA1 neurons. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 327(3):872-883, 2008.
• Mensah-Osman, E., Y. Zavros and J. Merchant. Somatostatin stimulates menin expression by inhibiting protein kinase A. American Journal of Physiology (Gastrointest Liver Physiol) Oct; 295(4):G843-G854, 2008.
• Mensah-Osman, E., Y. Zavros, D. Law, D. Jackson, E. Labut, J. Merchant.  Regulated expression of the human gastrin gene in gastrin-deficient mice. Regulatory Peptides, Nov 29; 151(1-3):115-122, 2008.
• Banerjee, A., Periyasamy, S., Wolf, I.M., Hinds, T.D., Jr, Yong, W., Shou, W. and Sanchez, E.  Control of glucocorticoid and progesterone receptor subcellular localization by the ligand-binding domain is mediated by distinct interactions with tetratricopeptide repeat proteins.  Biochemistry (39):10471-10480, 2008.
• Wolf, I.M., Periyasamy, S., Hinds, T. Jr., Yong, W., Shou, W., and Sanchez, E.R.  Targeted ablation reveals a novel role of FKBP52 in gene-specific regulation of glucocorticoid receptor transcriptional activity.  J. Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 113:36-45, 2008
• Xiang, K. and Tietz, E.I. Chronic Benzodiazepine-induced reduction in GABAA receptor-mediated synaptic currents in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons prevented by prior nimodipine injection. Neuroscience 157:153-163, 2008.
• Das, P., Lilly, S.M., Zerda, R. Gunning, W.F., III, Alvarez, FJ, and Tietz, E.I.  Increased AMPA receptor GluR1 subunit incorporation in rat hippocampal CA1 synapses during benzodiazepine withdrawal.  J. Comp Neurol. 511:832-846, 2008.
• Toland, E.J., Yerga-Woolwine, S., Farms, P., Cicila, G.T., Saad, Y., and Joe, B. Blood pressure and proteinuria effects of multiple quantitative trait loci on rat chromosome 9 that differentiate the spontaneously hypertensive rat from the Dahl salt-sensitive rat.  Journal of Hypertension 26(11):2134-2141, November 2008.
• Smedlund, K. and G. Vazquez.  Involvement of Native TRPC3 Proteins in ATP-Dependent Expression of VCAM-1 and Monocyte Adherence in Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells.  Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. Nov; 28 (11):2049-2055, 2008.
• Cai, T., Wang, H., Chen, Y., Liu, L., Gunning, W.T., Quintas, L.E.M., and Xie, Z.-J.  Regulation of caveolin-1 membrane trafficking by the Na/K-ATPase.  Journal of Cell Biology 182 (6):1153-1169, 2008.  Editorial Review by Mitch Leslie, Journal of Cell Biology.
• Chakraborty, J., Okonta, H., Bagalb, H., Lee, S.J., Fink, B., Changanamkandat, R., and Duggan, J.  Retroviral gene insertion in breast milk mediated lymphomagenesis.  Virology. Jul 20; 377(1):100-109, 2008. Epub 2008 May 27.
• Quinlan, C.A., Costa, A.D.T., Costa, C.L., Pierre, S.V.,  Dos Santos, P., and Garlid, K.D.  Conditioning the heart induces formation of signalosomes that interact with mitochondria to open mitoK_ATP channels.  American Journal of Physiology: Heart Circ Physiology Sep; 295(3):H953-H961, 2008.
• Saad, Y., Toland, E.J., Yerga-Woolwine, S., Farms, P., and Joe, B.  Congenic mapping of a blood pressure QTL region on rat chromosome 10 using the Dahl salt-sensitive rat with introgressed alleles from the Milan normotensive strain.  Mammalian Genome Feb; 19 (2):85-91, 2008, (cover).
• Toland, E.J., Saad, Y., Yerga-Woolwine, S., Ummel, S., Farms, P., Ramdath, R., Frank, B.C., Lee, N.H., and Joe, B.  Closely linked non-additive blood pressure quantitative trait loci.  Mammalian Genome 19(3):209-218, 2008.
• Morrill, G.A., Kostellow, A.B., and Askari, A.  Progesterone binding to the alpha1-subunit of the Na/K-ATPase on the cell surface: insights from computational modeling.  Steroids Jan; 73(1):27-40, 2008.
• Li, D., Yang, C., Chen, Y., Tian, J., Liu, L., Dai, Q., Wan, X., and Xie, Z.  Identification of a PKC{varepsilon}-dependent regulation of myocardial contraction by epicatechin-3-gallate.  American Journal of Physiology (Heart) 294(1):H345-353, 2008.

• Dr. Xiaodong (Robert) Wang was invited to attend the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's annual Williamsburg Conference to be held May 30-June 3, 2008 in Williamsburg, Virginia. This conference is held each year to review new data on aspects of CF research and new therapies.  The Williamsburg Conference serves to promote and facilitate communication and collaboration among the investigators involved in this important research and to introduce new people to the field.
• Dr. Ronald Mellgren was appointed to the "R1 Molecular Signaling 2" Peer Review committee of the American Heart Association, and will be reviewing grant proposals in Philadelphia April 15-16^th, 2008.
• Dr. Zijian Xie was an invited "external examiner" for the Ph.D. defense of Juan Li, at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden on December 18, 2007.  Juan Li is an MD, specializing in hematology.  Her major advisor is Anita Apera, Professor of Pediatrics at Karolinska Institutet.
• Dr. Bina Joe is an invited member of the Board of Examiners to adjudicate the Ph.D. thesis of G. Kathirvel, University of Madras, India. His Major Advisor is Dr. G. Jayaraman, Reader, Dept. of Genetics, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
• Dr. Bina Joe, is an invited to be the External member of the Expert Panel for the evaluation of Ph.D. thesis of D. Suresh, University of Mysore, India. His Major Advisor is Dr. K. Srinivasan, Scientist, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India. 
• Dr. Guillermo Vazquez has been designated Managing Editor of a special issue of “Frontiers in Bioscience”. The special edition is entitled “Canonical Transient Receptor Potential (TRPC) Channels: Emerging Roles in Cardiovascular Physiology and Disease” and will be launched in early 2008.
• Dr. Elizabeth Tietz's Postdoctoral Fellow, Paromita Das, Ph.D. has been awarded the "Postdoctoral Trainee Travel Award" for the Society for Neuroscience 37th Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, November 3-7, 2007.  Dr. Das was among one of 25 postdoctoral trainees honored with this award this year. 
• Dr. Joana Chakraborty has been invited to serve as a reviewer of abstracts for the 4th International Aids Conference, Sydney, Australia July 22-25, 2007.
• Dr. Sonia Najjar became an Editorial Board Member of Molecular Endocrinology. January, 2007.
• Dr. Sonia Najjar has been invited to serve as ad hoc referee for the Health Research Board, Ireland.