PhD - 2002
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

The overall goal of my research is to discover and characterize the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the cardiovascular system in health and disease. I am particularly interested in how the endothelial cells of exchange microvessels regulate transport of fluids and solutes between 1) the blood and tissues, and 2) the tissues and lymph. The microcirculation usually acts as a selective barrier, however, excessive leakage of plasma, also called microvascular hyperpermeability, occurs during shock or inflammatory disease processes and can lead to tissue dysfunction. On the lymphatic side, when lymphatic vessels fail to collect excessive fluids from the tissue, a debilitating condition known as lymphedema forms. The specific goals of my research are to better understand how inflammatory cells and mediators affect subcellular structures that control endothelial cell shape and adhesion, what genes promote microvascular hyperpermeability during disease processes, and what active role lymphatic endothelial cells may have in regulating lymph formation and propulsion. To achieve these research goals, I employ an integrative approach involving in vivo imaging experiments, cell culture models, and molecular biology techniques. Techniques routinely used in my lab include intravital fluorescence microscopy and image analysis, ECIS, protein analysis, and genetic mutation of cells. Recent studies have focused on the Rho/ROCK pathway in the control of endothelial cell tension development, the role of VEGFR-3 in lymphatic pump function, and how Toll-like receptor-4 contributes to systemic inflammation after severe burn injury. The intent of this research is to continually characterize the molecular and biochemical properties of adhesive and contractile structures that regulate microvascular permeability and lymph formation, with a practical view toward the development of therapeutic agents that target these end-point molecular processes, for more effective treatment of inflammatory diseases and lymphedema.

Breslin, J.W., Wu, M.H., Guo, M., Reynoso, R., Yuan, S.Y., Toll-like receptor-4 contributes to microvascular inflammation and barrier dysfunction in thermal injury, Shock 29: 349-355, 2008.

Breslin, J.W., Gaudreault, N., Watson, K.D., Reynoso, R., Wu, M.H., Yuan, S.Y, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C Stimulates the Lymphatic Pump by a VEGF Receptor-3-Dependent Mechanism, Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 293: H709-H718, 2007.

Breslin, J.W., Yuan, S.Y., Wu. M.H., VEGF-C alters barrier function of cultured lymphatic endothelial cells through a VEGFR-3-dependent mechanism, Lymphat. Res. Biol. 5:105-113, 2007.

Yuan, S.Y., Breslin, J.W., Perrin, R. Gaudreault, N. Guo, M., Kargozaran, H. Wu, M.H., Microvascualr permeability in diabetes and insulin resistance, Microcirculation 14:363-373, 2007.

Breslin, J.W., Sun, H., Xu, W, Rodarte, C, Moy, A.B., Wu, M.H., Yuan, S.Y., Involvement of ROCK-mediated endothelial tension development in neutrophil-stimulated microvascular leakage, Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 290: H741-H750, 2006.

Breslin, J.W., Yuan, S.Y., Involvement of RhoA and Rho Kinase in Neutrophil-Stimulated Endothelial Hyperpermeability, Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 286: H1057-H1062, 2004.