Research Interests:
Recruitment of neutrophils (PMNs) into the lung is a key event in the early development of acute lung injury (ALI). PMN recruitment into the lung occurs in a cascade-like sequence of activation, sequestration in pulmonary vessels, and transendothelial (from blood to interstitium) and transepithelial (from interstitium to alveolar airspace) migration. Although interactions between leukocytes and endothelium have been well characterized in the systemic microcirculation, molecular requirements in the lung are not completely understood. In order to investigate the different steps of leukocyte recruitment and other pathophysiological changes during the development of ALI, we use different models of ALI (acid-, LPS-, and sepsis-induced ALI). Methods we use to elucidate these mechanisms are flow cytometry (leukocyte recruitment), Evans-blue (permeability), ELISA, and cell culture.
az4n@virginia.edu
