Associate Professor
WSU Spokane - Health Sciences
P.O. Box 1495 Spokane, WA 99210-1495
E-Mail: ecarol_johnson@wsu.edu
Phone: (509) 338-6733
Currently, I am working in the area of angiogenesis (formation of new
blood vessels from existing vessels) with special emphasis on the roles
of adenosine and hypoxia in microvascular remodeling. Of specific
interest is the involvement of angiogenesis in atherosclerosis and the
stimuli associated with hypoxia and exercise, which promote
angiogenesis.
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.
