Welcome to the Ed Inscho Lab
Our research focuses on the control of renal hemodynamics at the microcirculatory level. Of particular interest is the role of renal P2 receptors, TLR4 and HMGB1 in controlling pre- and post-glomerular resistance and their effect on renal hemodynamics and autoregulatory control. We also examine the impact of hypertension, high dietary salt and inflammation on renal function, renal microvascular function and renal injury.
More recent work has focused on the role of the innate immune system in the preglomerular dysfunction that occurs with acute inflammation or Ang-II hypertension. Physiological and pharmacological influences on renal vascular resistance vessels are investigated using state-of the arts videomicroscopy techniques providing direct access to pre- and post-glomerular microvasculature. This permits direct assessment of renal microvascular function and microvascular responses to selected experimental manipulations.
In conjunction with these studies, we investigate the calcium signal transduction pathways utilized by vasoactive agents to modulate renal microvascular resistance. Experiments are performed using intact renal microvascular segments as well as with single preglomerular vascular smooth muscle cells. The ability to define intracellular responses such as ion fluxes or second messenger systems in vascular smooth muscle cells may permit us to explain the behavior of renal microvessels in an intact system and offer clues toward explaining abnormal function in disease states like hypertension, inflammation and high salt diets.
