One major goal of our laboratory is to use gene transfer approaches to study vascular biology, and to explore
the feasibility of gene therapy for vascular disease. Adenovirus vectors are being used for gene transfer to cerebral
blood vessels and to atherosclerotic arteries. A second goal is to examine mechanisms of hemorrhagic stroke. We have
developed the first two experimental models of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage in hypertensive mice, and now are examining
the role of oxidative stress.
Selected Publications
Kitayama, J., Chu, Y., Faraci, F.M., and Heistad, D.D. Modulation of dilator responses of cerebral arterioles by extracelluar superoxide dismutase. Stroke, 37:2802-2806, 2006.
Kitayama, J., Faraci, F.M., Lentz, S.R., and Heistad, D.D. Cerebral vascular dysfunction during hypercholesterolemia. Stroke, 38:2136-2141, 2007.
Lund, D.D., Chu, Y., Brooks, R.M., Faraci, F.M., and Heistad, D.D. Effects of a common human gene variant of ECSOD on endothelial function after endotoxin in mice. J. Physiol. (London), 584.2:583-590, 2007.
Wakisaka, Y., Miller, J.D., Chu, Y., Baumbach, G.L., Wilson, S., Faraci, F.M., Sigmund, C.D., and Heistad, D.D. Oxidative stress through activation of NAD(P)H oxidase in hypertensive mice with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab., 28:1175-1185, 2008.