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Cardiovascular Medicine

David X. Zhang Lab

Zhang Lab
David X. Zhang, PhD

David X. Zhang, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
xfzhang@mcw.edu

The overall emphasis of the Zhang laboratory is to understand signaling mechanisms in the regulation of blood vessel reactivity and homeostasis under normal states as well as in diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, and diabetes. A major effort of my laboratory is to understand how ion channels and related signaling molecules regulate flow- and agonist-mediated dilation of human arterioles from subjects with and without CAD. The current research is focused on the role of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, especially TRPV4 channels, in mediating the conversion of vasodilator factors (NO/PGI2 in health and H2O2 in disease) in the human microcirculation. A second line of research relates to the function of smooth muscle K+ channels, such as Ca2+-activated K+ (KCa) and voltage-gated K+ (KV) channels, in arterioles from subjects with and without CAD. These smooth muscle K+ channels are the key end-effector of vasomotor control in the microcirculation. Studies are performed with an integrated approach ranging from cellular and molecular techniques (Ca2+ imaging, protein mutagenesis), electrophysiology (patch clamping), to isolated vessel reactivity and in vivo vascular function assays.

Lab Members

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Konstantin Drachuk, PhD

Mentor: David Zhang, PhD

LinkedIn

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Aravind Parthasarathy, PhD

Mentor: David Zhang, PhD

LinkedIn

Recent Publications

Publications of David X. Zhang MD, PhD from the Faculty Collaboration Database

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