The major focus of my laboratory is to understand
the molecular and cellular lung biology of oxidants
and antioxidants as they relate to a variety of lung
diseases. Current studies include: I) characterizing
the human and mouse extracellular superoxide dismutase
gene; 2) creating transgenic mice and knock-out mice
for extracellular superoxide dismutase and studying
their effects in acute lung injury models; 3) identifying
oxidant transcriptional response elements; 4)manipulating
cellular antioxidant levels using molecular biology
techniques and assessing optimal protective effects
both in vivo and in vitro; 5) develop antioxidant
gene therapy for diseases of the lung; 6) identify
markers for individuals who are at risk for developing
oxidant-induced lung injury.
Current models include environmental particulate-induced
lung injury, post bone marrow transplantation lung
injury, as well as adult respiratory distress syndrome.
Such cellular oxidant stresses are likely to be highly
localized both at the intra and extracellular levels.
The ultimate goal of this research is to identify
and understand the specific site and mechanism of
cellular/extracellular oxidant injury followed by
targeting or enhancing specific antioxidants of these
locations with the end result being protection from
injury.
