Cardiovascular Biology Research Program

The Cardiovascular Biology Research Program investigates fundamental mechanisms involved in blood and lymphatic vessel function, atherogenesis, blood coagulation, inflammation, and sepsis.

This program utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to address these questions at a molecular level. This approach encompasses structural biology, structure-function analysis of enzymes and receptors, regulation of the relevant genes, in vivo studies using transgenic and gene deletion approaches, cell biology, protein chemistry, physiological studies, and biophysical methods for analyzing protein-protein, membrane-protein, and cell-cell interactions.

The multidisciplinary approach provides insights into processes with relevance to many human diseases, including heart attack, stroke, septic shock, cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. Several findings by program members have generated patents and licenses that may lead to new diagnostics and therapeutics.

2023

Ho YC, Geng X, O'Donnell A, Ibarrola J, Fernandez-Celis A, Varshney R, Subramani K, Azartash-Namin ZJ, Kim J, Silasi R, Wylie-Sears J, Alvandi Z, Chen L, Cha B, Chen H, Xia L, Zhou B, Lupu F, Burkhart HM, Aikawa E, Olson LE, Ahamed J, López-Andrés N, Bischoff J, Yutzey KE, Srinivasan RS. PROX1 Inhibits PDGF-B Expression to Prevent Myxomatous Degeneration of Heart Valves. Circ Res, 2023 August, PMID: 37555328

Tong Y, Wu Y, Ma J, Ikeda M, Ide T, Griffin CT, Ding XQ, Wang S. Comparative mechanistic study of RPE cell death induced by different oxidative stresses. Redox Biol 65:102840, 2023 August, PMID: 37566944

Tsitsikov EN, Phan KP, Liu Y, Tsytsykova AV, Kinter M, Selland L, Garman L, Griffin C, Dunn IF. TRAF7 is an essential regulator of blood vessel integrity during mouse embryonic and neonatal development. iScience 26:107474, 2023 July, PMID: 37583551, PMCID: PMC10424150

Schafer CM, Martin-Almedina S, Kurylowicz K, Dufton N, Osuna-Almagro L, Wu ML, Johnson CF, Shah AV, Haskard DO, Buxton A, Willis E, Wheeler K, Turner S, Chlebicz M, Scott RP, Kovats S, Cleuren A, Birdsey GM, Randi AM, Griffin CT. Cytokine-Mediated Degradation of the Transcription Factor ERG Impacts the Pulmonary Vascular Response to Systemic Inflammatory Challenge. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2023 June, PMID: 37317853, PMCID: PMC10364964

Dragomir MP, Fuentes-Mattei E, Winkle M, Okubo K, Bayraktar R, Knutsen E, Qdaisat A, Chen M, Li Y, Shimizu M, Pang L, Liu K, Liu X, Anfossi S, Zhang H, Koch I, Tran AM, Mohapatra S, Ton A, Kaplan M, Anderson MW, Rothfuss SJ, Silasi R, Keshari RS, Ferracin M, Ivan C, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Lopez-Berestein G, Georgescu C, Banerjee PP, Basar R, Li Z, Horst D, Vasilescu C, Bertilaccio MTS, Rezvani K, Lupu F, Yeung SC, Calin GA. Anti-miR-93-5p therapy prolongs sepsis survival by restoring the peripheral immune response. J Clin Invest, 2023 June, PMID: 37261908, PMCID: PMC10348769

Giri H, Biswas I, Rezaie AR. Activated protein C inhibits mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in experimental peritoneal fibrosis. J Thromb Haemost 21:133-144, 2023 January, PMID: 36695376

2022

Li P, Newhardt MF, Matsuzaki S, Eyster C, Pranay A, Peelor FF 3rd, Batushansky A, Kinter C, Subramani K, Subrahmanian S, Ahamed J, Yu P, Kinter M, Miller BF, Humphries KM. The loss of cardiac SIRT3 decreases metabolic flexibility and proteostasis in an age-dependent manner. Geroscience, 2022 December, PMID: 36460774, PMCID: PMC9886736

Tsai K, Ma C, Han X, Allaire J, Healey GR, Crowley SM, Yu H, Jacobson K, Xia L, Priatel JJ, Vallance BA. HIGHLY SENSITIVE, FLOW CYTOMETRY-BASED MEASUREMENT OF INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY IN MODELS OF EXPERIMENTAL COLITIS. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2022 October, PMID: 36244647, PMCID: PMC9791122

Mahamud MR, Geng X, Chen L, Ahmed Z, Ho Y, Srinivasan RS. GATA2 regulates blood/lymph separation in a platelet-dependent and lymphovenous valve-independent manner. Microcirculation:e12787, 2022 October, PMID: 36197446, PMCID: PMC10073350

Iwayama T, Iwashita M, Miyashita K, Sakashita H, Matsumoto S, Tomita K, Bhongsatiern P, Kitayama T, Ikegami K, Shimbo T, Tamai K, Murayama MA, Ogawa S, Iwakura Y, Yamada S, Olson LE, Takedachi M, Murakami S. Plap-1 lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics reveal cellular dynamics in the periodontal ligament. Development 149, 2022 October, PMID: 36245218

Nizami HL, Minor KE, Chiao YA, Light CM, Lee CF. Sexually Dimorphic Effects of SARM1 Deletion on Cardiac NAD Metabolism and Function. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2022 September, PMID: 36053750, PMCID: PMC9529255

Shi H, Shao B, Gao L, Venkatesan T, McDaniel JM, Zhou M, McGee S, Yu P, Ahamed J, Journeycake J, George JN, Xia L. Endothelial VWF is critical for the pathogenesis of vaso-occlusive episode in a mouse model of sickle cell disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119:e2207592119, 2022 August, PMID: 35969769, PMCID: PMC9407592

Yao L, Rathnakar BH, Kwon HR, Sakashita H, Kim JH, Rackley A, Tomasek JJ, Berry WL, Olson LE. Temporal control of PDGFRα regulates the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition in wound healing. Cell Rep 40:111192, 2022 August, PMID: 35977484, PMCID: PMC9423027

Ahamed J, Laurence J. Long COVID endotheliopathy: hypothesized mechanisms and potential therapeutic approaches. J Clin Invest 132, 2022 August, PMID: 35912863, PMCID: PMC9337829

Kemp SS, Penn MR, Koller GM, Griffin CT, Davis GE. Proinflammatory mediators, TNFα, IFNγ, and thrombin, directly induce lymphatic capillary tube regression. Front Cell Dev Biol 10:937982, 2022 July, PMID: 35927983, PMCID: PMC9343954

Geng X, Srinivasan RS. Molecular Mechanisms Driving Lymphedema and Other Lymphatic Anomalies. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med, 2022 July, PMID: 35817543, PMCID: PMC9341459

Ariëns RA, Hunt BJ, Agbani EO, Ahnström J, Ahrends R, Alikhan R, Assinger A, Bagoly Z, Balduini A, Barbon E, Barrett CD, Batty P, Carneiro JDA, Chan WS, de Maat M, de Wit K, Denis C, Ellis MH, Eslick R, Fu H, Hayward CPM, Ho-Tin-Noé B, Klok FA, Kumar R, Leiderman K, Litvinov RI, Mackman N, McQuilten Z, Neal MD, Parker WAE, Preston RJS, Rayes J, Rezaie AR, Roberts LN, Rocca B, Shapiro S, Siegal DM, Sousa LP, Suzuki-Inoue K, Zafar T, Zhou J. Illustrated State-of-the-Art Capsules of the ISTH 2022 Congress. Res Pract Thromb Haemost 6:e12747, 2022 July, PMID: 35814801, PMCID: PMC9257378

Gostynska S, Venkatesan T, Subramani K, Cortez B, Robertson A, Subrahmanian S, Dube P, Ahamed J. Megakaryocyte/platelet-derived TGF-β1 inhibits megakaryopoiesis in bone marrow by regulating thrombopoietin production in liver. Blood Adv 6:3321-3328, 2022 June, PMID: 35358295, PMCID: PMC9198906

Elhadad S, Chadburn A, Magro C, Van Besien K, Roberson EDO, Atkinson JP, Terry H, Greenberg J, Reid W, Chapin J, Copertino D, Geramfard S, Rodriguez LB, Orfali N, Gerghis U, Shore T, Mayer S, Ahamed J, Laurence J. C5b-9 and MASP2 deposition in skin and bone marrow microvasculature characterize hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy. Bone Marrow Transplant, 2022 June, PMID: 35661836

Laurence J, Nuovo G, Racine-Brzostek SE, Seshadri M, Elhadad S, Crowson AN, Mulvey JJ, Harp J, Ahamed J, Magro C. Pre-mortem skin biopsy assessing microthrombi, interferon-I antiviral and regulatory proteins, and complement deposition correlates with COVID-19 clinical stage. Am J Pathol, 2022 May, PMID: 35640675, PMCID: PMC9144849

Shao B, Nusrat S, George JN, Xia L. Aspirin Prophylaxis for Hereditary and Acquired Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura? Am J Hematol, 2022 May, PMID: 35593427, PMCID: PMC9262856

Van der Ent MA, Svilar D, Cleuren ACA. Molecular analysis of vascular gene expression. Res Pract Thromb Haemost 6:e12718, 2022 May, PMID: 35599705, PMCID: PMC9118339

de Castro RO, Carbajal A, Previato de Almeida L, Goitea V, Griffin CT, Pezza RJ. Mouse Chd4-NURD is required for neonatal spermatogonia survival and normal gonad development. Epigenetics Chromatin 15:16, 2022 May, PMID: 35568926, PMCID: PMC9107693

Chakraborty A, Minor KE, Nizami HL, Chiao YA, Lee CF. Harnessing NAD Metabolism as Therapy for Cardiometabolic Diseases. Curr Heart Fail Rep, 2022 May, PMID: 35556214, PMCID: PMC9339518

Lee CF, Nizami H, Gu H, Light C. SARM1 NAD Hydrolase Deficiency Normalizes Fibrosis and Ameliorates Cardiac Dysfunction in Diabetic Hearts. FASEB J 36 Suppl 1, 2022 May, PMID: 35555837

Lee CF. Regulation of NAD Metabolism in Diastolic Dysfunction Induced by Metabolic Stress. FASEB J 36 Suppl 1, 2022 May, PMID: 35554201

Chaaban H, Patel MM, Burge K, Eckert JV, Lupu C, Keshari RS, Silasi R, Regmi G, Trammell M, Dyer D, McElroy SJ, Lupu F. Early Antibiotic Exposure Alters Intestinal Development and Increases Susceptibility to Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Mechanistic Study. Microorganisms 10, 2022 February, PMID: 35336095, PMCID: PMC8951210

Shao B, Hoover CM, Shi H, Kondo Y, Lee RH, Chen J, Shan X, Song J, McDaniel M, Zhou M, McGee S, Vanhoorelbeke K, Bergmeier W, López JA, George JN, Xia L. Deletion of platelet CLEC-2 decreases GPIba-mediated integrin aIIbb3 activation and decreases thrombosis in TTP. Blood, 2022 February, PMID: 35157766, PMCID: PMC9029097

Menendez M, Drozd A, Borawska K, Chmielewska JJ, Wu ML, Griffin CT. IL-1β Impacts Vascular Integrity and Lymphatic Function in the Embryonic Omentum. Circ Res, 2022 January, PMID: 34986653, PMCID: PMC8813910

Geng X, Chen L, Srinivasan RS, Kylat RJ, Witte MH, Erickson RJ. Lack of embryonic homozygous or adult heterozygous lymphatic phenotypes for a Sos1 mutation and lack of lymphatic embryonic phenotypes for a homozygous Cx47 mutation in mice. Lymphology 55:129-134, 2022 January, PMID: 36446400

Bergstrom K, Xia L. The barrier and beyond: Roles of intestinal mucus and mucin-type O-glycosylation in resistance and tolerance defense strategies guiding host-microbe symbiosis. Gut Microbes 14:2052699, 2022 January, PMID: 35380912, PMCID: PMC8986245

Cardiovascular Biology Research Program
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 NE 13th Street, MS 45
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Phone: (405) 271-6480
Fax: (405) 271-3137
Email:  Mia-Pederson-Rambo@omrf.org