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Previous work by myself and
others has shown that both hypoxia and exercise increase the mRNA levels of
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-beta
(TGF-b1), which are known to stimulate angiogenesis. Current research is
focused on the involvement of adenosine and its receptors in the upregulation
of angiogenic growth factors, as well as the effect of ethanol on these events
in vitro.
A current project involves
determining whether the downregulation of adenosine receptors known to occur
with chronic moderate ethanol exposure affects angiogenic responses of
endothelial cells to hypoxia and other stimuli present in muscle during
exercise. This has particular relevance to atherosclerosis and mechanisms
underlying the known reduction in coronary artery disease seen with moderate
ethanol consumption and exercise. To clarify these relationships, we are using
cell and molecular techniques to investigate angiogenic events in endothelial
cells isolated form various vascular regions of pigs with a special emphasis
on myocardial endothelial cells. Future research will focus on carrying the in
vitro work into an in vivo model and will incorporate stressors such as
exercise and hypoxia to investigate angiogenic events.
Biographical Information
E. Carolyn Johnson,
Associate Professor, earned a B.S.E. degree from Southern Arkansas University
(1971), a M.Ed. from Northwestern State University of Louisiana (1975) and a
Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico (1986). From 1981-90 she worked at the
Lovelace Medical Foundation (now the Lovelace Institutes) in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, first as a graduate research assistant and then as a full-time
scientist. At Lovelace, she studied human central and regional blood flow
responses to various stressors using ultrasound, and metabolic responses of
muscle to exercise in normal subjects and those with congestive heart failure
using the techniques of phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy combined
with magnetic resonance imaging. From 1990-92, she was an Assistant Professor
in the College of Allied Health Professions in Northern Arizona University.
From 1992-95, she served as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral
Fellow in the School of Medicine, Division of Physiology, at the University of
California, San Diego, where she investigated the effects of exercise and
hypoxic stress on angiogenic responses in skeletal muscle and gas exchange in
the lungs.
Selected Publications
Breen EC, Johnson EC,
Wagner H, Tseng HM, Sung LA, Wagner PD. Angiogenic growth factor mRNA
responses in muscle to a single bout of exercise. J Appl Physiol 1996;
81 (1): 355-361.
Podolsky A, Eldridge
MW, Richardson RS, Knight DR, Johnson EC, Hopkins SR, Michimata H, Grassi B,
Feiner J, Kurdak SS, Bickler PE, Severinghaus JW, Wagner PD. Exercise-induced
VA/Q inequality in subjects with prior high-altitude pulmonary edema. J
Appl Physiol 1996; 81(2): 922-932.
Eldridge MW, Podolsky
A, Richardson RS, Johnson DH, Knight DR, Johnson EC, Hopkins SR, Michimata H,
Grassi B, Feiner J, Kurdak SS, Bickler PE, Wagner PD, Severinghaus JW.
Pulmonary hemodynamic responses to hypoxia and exercise in subjects with prior
high-altitude pulmonary edema. J Appl Physiol 1996; 81(2): 911-921.
Hopkins SR, Johnson EC,
Richardson RS, Wagner H, DeRosa M, Wagner PD. Effects of inhaled nitric oxide
on gas exchange in lungs with shunt or poorly ventilated areas. Am J Resp
Crit Care Med 1997; 156: 484-491.
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