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Courtney Griffin, Ph.D.

Member
Cardiovascular Biology Research Program

Scientific Director, Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research

My 101

In my lab, we are interested in the development of blood vessels. Certain diseases require blood vessel development for their progression; tumors, for example, thrive on blood flow. In those situations, we want to know how to stop vessel growth in order to stop disease progression. At other times, such as when wounds are healing, vessel growth is necessary and positive. In those cases we want to learn how to build new vessels.

Blood vessel development is similar in mice and humans, so we use mice to study and manipulate vessels. Much of our work is carried out in mouse embryos, since they undergo rapid and easily visible blood vessel development.

Because we want to understand what genes are required for blood vessel development, we study certain enzymes that help turn genes on and off. These enzymes are specifically involved in relaxing DNA that is normally tightly coiled up in our cells. When DNA is relaxed, genes can be regulated. We use genetically engineered mice to shut down these enzymes that relax DNA in order to determine the effect on blood vessel development. We ultimately hope to identify the particular genes that these enzymes regulate during vascular development, since those genes would be important therapeutic targets for controlling the process of vessel growth.

Watch Dr. Griffin’s 2011 TEDxOU Lecture: Epigenetics and the Influence of Our Genes

Research

My lab studies the transcriptional regulation of genes that impact blood and lymphatic vascular development and maintenance. I became interested in vascular biology and development during my graduate training with Shaun Coughlin at UCSF and in epigenetics and transcription during my postdoctoral training with Terry Magnuson at UNC-Chapel Hill. When I launched my independent career in the Cardiovascular Biology Research Program at OMRF in 2008, I combined these interests together and initiated a program studying the impact of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes on vascular development. These complexes transiently modulate chromatin to facilitate transcriptional regulation of target genes. By generating mice with vascular-specific mutations in these complexes, my lab assesses how chromatin remodeling influences expression of genes that affect endothelial cell morphology and behavior. Our long-term goal is to generate insights that can be exploited for developing therapeutic approaches to combat vascular pathologies.

For more details about our current research, please see my lab website: https://griffinc.omrf.org/

Brief CV

Education
B.A., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1995
Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, CA, 2001
Postdoc, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001-2008

Honors and Awards
1995 Magna cum laude with highest honors in Biology, Harvard College
1998-2001 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship
2002-2005 National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship
2005-2006 American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship
2006-2011 NIH Pathway to Independence Award
2011 TEDxOU: Epigenetics and the Influence of Our Genes
2013 J. Donald and Patricia Capra Award for Scientific Achievement

Professional Activities
2009-present: Ad hoc peer review for AHA and for NIH
2015-2018: NAVBO Councilor
2016-present: AHA National Research Funding Subcommittee
2016-present: AHA Central Oklahoma Board of Directors (President; 2018-present)
2016-present: Editorial Board Member for Angiogenesis

Memberships
North American Vascular Biology Organization
Society for Developmental Biology
American Heart Association

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2008

Publications

View more publications

Recent Publications

Colijn S, Muthukumar V, Xie J, Gao S, Griffin CT. Cell-specific and athero-protective roles for RIPK3 in a murine model of atherosclerosis. Dis Model Mech, 2020 January, PMID: 31953345, PMCID: PMC6994951

Koller GM, Schafer C, Kemp SS, Aguera KN, Lin PK, Forgy JC, Griffin CT, Davis GE. Proinflammatory Mediators, IL (Interleukin)-1β, TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) α, and Thrombin Directly Induce Capillary Tube Regression. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol:ATVBAHA119313536, 2019 December, PMID: 31852224

Colijn S, Gao S, Ingram KG, Menendez M, Muthukumar V, Silasi-Mansat R, Chmielewska JJ, Hinsdale M, Lupu F, Griffin CT. The NuRD chromatin-remodeling complex enzyme CHD4 prevents hypoxia-induced endothelial Ripk3 transcription and murine embryonic vascular rupture. Cell Death Differ, 2019 June, PMID: 31235857

Selected Publications

Crosswhite PL, Podsiadlowska JJ, Curtis CD, Gao S, Xia L, Srinivasan RS, Griffin CT. CHD4-regulated plasmin activation impacts lymphovenous hemostasis and hepatic vascular integrity. J Clin Invest. 2016; 126: 2254-2266. PMID: 27140400 PMCID: PMC4887170

Wiley MM, Muthukumar V, Griffin TM, Griffin CT. SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling enzymes Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1) and Brahma (BRM) are dispensable in multiple models of postnatal angiogenesis but are required for vascular integrity in infant mice. J Am Heart Assoc. 2015; 4: e001972. PMID: 25904594 PMCID: PMC4579958

Ingram KG, Curtis CD, Silasi-Mansat R, Lupu F, Griffin CT. The NuRD chromatin-remodeling enzyme CHD4 promotes embryonic vascular integrity by transcriptionally regulating extracellular matrix proteolysis. PLoS Genet. 2013; 9: e1004031. PMID: 24348274 PMCID: PMC3861115

Davis RB, Curtis CD, Griffin CT. BRG1 promotes COUP-TFII expression and venous specification during embryonic vascular development. Development. 2013; 140: 1272-1281. PMID: 23406903 PMCID: PMC3585661

Curtis CD, Griffin CT. The chromatin-remodeling enzymes BRG1 and CHD4 antagonistically regulate vascular Wnt signaling. Mol Cell Biol. 2012; 32: 1312-1320. PMID: 22290435 PMCID: PMC3302445

Griffin CT, Curtis, CD, Davis RB, Muthukumar V, Magnuson T. The chromatin-remodeling enzyme BRG1 modulates vascular Wnt signaling at two levels. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011; 108: 2282-2287. PMID: 21262838 PMCID: PMC3038709

 

Contact

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

Phone: (405) 271-7073
Fax: (405) 271-7417
E-mail: Courtney-Griffin@omrf.org

Lab Staff

Charmain Fernando, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Matthew Menendez, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Chris Schafer, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Melinda Wu,Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow

Jun Xie, M.D.
Laboratory Manager

Sarah Colijn
Graduate Student

Siqi Gao
Graduate Student

Katarzyna Borawska
Research Trainee (Polish Student Exchange Program)

Grace Peake
Administrative Assistant II

 

News from the Griffin lab

Lupus and vascular development research bring $4 million to OMRF
July 30, 2012

The National Institutes of Health awarded grants worth more than $4 million to two OMRF scientists. Patrick Gaffney, M.D., and Courtney Griffin, Ph.D., were each awarded five-year R01 grants to research genes related to lupus and vascular development, respectively. After identifying two genes associated with lupus—a chronic autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 2 million […]

The Next Generation OMRF adds new scientists to spur growth, discovery
October 6, 2008

A new wave of researchers has joined the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s scientific staff as part of the foundation’s expansion. OMRF has added seven new scientists to its staff. In addition, two research assistants have been promoted to faculty-level positions. The new researchers have come to OMRF from a variety of institutions across the U.S. […]