Cardiovascular Biology

The Davies lab, with interests in fundamental mechanisms of cell and tissue biomechanics, biochemistry and molecular biophysics and especially the role of hemodynamics in cardiovascular pathophysiology, has enjoyed a valuable collaborative relationship with CBIL over the past decade. The group has systematically developed in vivo / in situ molecular studies of the regulation of arterial endothelial heterogeneity in the context of hemodynamics and site-specific susceptibility to atherosclerosis (and calcific sclerosis in heart valves). In vivo differential expression of important phenotype pathways identified by high throughput methodologies are subsequently dissected under controlled conditions in tissue culture to establish regulatory mechanisms. An outline of the role of blood flow in differential endothelial phenotype expression can be found at: Davies PF. "Hemodynamic Shear Stress and the Endothelium in Cardiovascular Pathophysiology", Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovasc. Medicine (now: Nature Cardiology Reviews) 6:16-26, (2009). In this collaboration CBIL is engaged in experimental design through to analyses of high-throughput microarray and NGS data. The statistical, computational and analytical contributions of ongoing studies include microRNA and whole genome epigenetic experiments in swine and human cells.

Here is a list of related papers from the Davies lab.