Cuihua Zhang, MD, PhD, FAHA
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Departments of Internal Medicine, Medical Pharmacology & Physiology and Nutrition & Exercise Physiology
Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center
134 Research Park Drive
(573) 882-2427 ZhangCu@missouri.edu
Dr. Zhang’s research interests:
Our research laboratory focuses on the regulation of coronary microvascular function; endothelium and vascular smooth-muscle biology; physiology and pathophysiology of coronary microcirculation; metabolic regulation of microvascular blood flow; nitric oxide and microvascular function; influence of antioxidants/oxidative stress on microvascular vasomotor function.
Dr. Zhang's current research interest is aimed at understanding the underlying mechanisms responsible for the pathophysiological manifestations of ischemic heart disease.
Dr. Zhang's laboratory studies genetically modified mice to understand the role of specific genes in the pathophysiological sequelae of cardiovascular diseases, e.g., hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes at the molecular, cellular, and intact tissue levels..
On-going projects in the laboratory include:
Role of inflammatory cytokines in vascular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes
Role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury
Role of LOX-1 in endothelial function in coronary arterioles in atherosclerotic Apo-E knockout mice
Professional Background:
Jin Zhou Medical College, M.D.
Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, University of San Paulo, Brazil
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Medical Physiology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University
Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Medical Physiology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University
Assistant Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Physiology, LSU Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Associate Professor (with tenure), Departments of Internal Medicine, Medical Pharmacology & Physiology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Missouri
Recipient of the Microcirculatory Society Travel Award for Outstanding Young Investigators from the Microcirculatory Society
Recipient of Werner Risau New Investigator Award in Vascular Biology from ATVB
Recipient of American Physiology Society CV Section Young Investigator Award
Member of Editorial Boards for Basic Research in Cardiology and American Journal of Physiology
Adhoc member of NIH Hypertension and Microcirculation Study Section
American Heart Association Peer Review Committee
Research funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and Pfizer
Selected Publications:
Cuihua Zhang, Hein TW, Wang W, Ren Y, Shipley RD, and Kuo L. Activation of JNK and Xanthine Oxidase by TNF alpha Impairs Nitric Oxide-Mediated Dilation of Coronary Arterioles. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 2006;40(2):247-257.
Cuihua Zhang, Xiangbin Xu, Barry J. Potter, Wei Wang, Lih Kuo, Lloyd Michael, Gregory J. Bagby, and William M. Chilian. TNF-alpha Contributes to Endothelial Dysfunction in Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 2006; 26:475-480.
A Picchi, X Gao, S Belmadani, BJ Potter, M Focardi, WM Chilian and Cuihua Zhang. TNF alpha Induces Endothelial Dysfunction in the Metabolic Syndrome. Circ Res. 2006, 99:69-77.
Xue Gao, Souad Belmadani, Andrea Picchi, Xiangbin Xu, Barry J Potter, Neera Tewari-Singh, Stefano Capobianco, William M Chilian and Cuihua Zhang. Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha-induces Endothelial Dysfunction in Leprdb Mice. Circulation. 2007, 115:245-254.
Xiangbin Xu, Xue Gao, Ji-Min Cao, William M. Chilian and Cuihua Zhang. Anti-LOX-1 Rescues Endothelial Function in Coronary Arterioles in Atherosclerotic Apo-E Knockout Mice. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 2007, 27:871-877.
Xue Gao, Xiangbin Xu, Souad Belmadani, Yoonjung Park, Zhonghua Tang, Arthur M Feldman, William M Chilian and Cuihua Zhang. TNF-alpha Contributes to Endothelial Dysfunction by Up-regulation Arginase in I/R Injury. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 2007, 27:1269-1275.
Cuihua Zhang, Yoonjung Park, Andrea Picchi and Barry J Potter. Maturation-induced Endothelial Dysfunction via Vascular Inflammation in Diabetic Mice. Basic Research in Cardiology. 2008 (In Press).
Cuihua Zhang. Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction (A Review). Basic Research in Cardiology. 2008 (In Press).
Csiszar A, Labinskyy N, Podlutsky A, Kaminski PM, Wolin MS, Zhang C, Mukhopadhyay P, Pacher P, Hu F, de Cabo R, Ballabh P, Ungvari ZI. Vasoprotective Effects of Resveratrol and SIRT1: Attenuation of Cigarette Smoke-induced Oxidative Stress and Pro-inflammatory Phenotypic Alterations. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008 Apr 18 [Epub ahead of print]
Xue Gao, Hanrui Zhang, Ann Marie Schmidt and Cuihua Zhang. AGE/RAGE Produces Endothelial Dysfunction in Coronary Arterioles in Type II Diabetic Mice. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008 June [Epub ahead of print]
University of Missouri Nutrition & Exercise Physiology
Faculty and Staff