Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

M. Tino Unlap

Biography

Research Interest

 My laboratory is studying the role that oxidative stress plays in the pathogenesis of hypertension.  Studies have shown that the adverse effects of oxidative stress are mediated through reactive oxygen species which include  superoxide anion (O2.-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (OH.-) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-), which exert a variety of effects in the renal vasculature including dysregulation of cytosolic calcium homeostasis, elevation of intracellular Na+ and Ca2+ and induction of membrane depolarization.  Because the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger plays a crucial role in maintaining cytosolic calcium homeostasis, we hypothesize that elevation of intracellular Na+ levels which leads to membrane depolarization and increased Ca2+ influx through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, an effect which is significantly greater in renal vasculature of the Salt Sensitive Dahl rat. Studies in my laboratory is are testing this hypothesis in preglomerualr vascular smooth muscle cells of Salt Sensitive and Salt Resistant Dahl rats and, for mechanistic studies, in Opossum kidney (OK) cells stably expressing RiNCX and SfNCX,  two Na+/Ca2+ exchanger isoforms that we previously cloned from renal vasculatures of the Salt Resistant and Salt Sensitive Dahl rats, respectively.

Publications

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