Donald G. Welsh, PhD
(
University of Guelph, Guelph, ON)
Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Gap Junction Regulation and Vascular Control
Senior Scholar, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
Associate Professor, Physiology & Pharmacology
Office: HRIC GAA14 Lab: HRIC GA29
Phone: (403)210-3819 Lab: (403)210-3820
E-mail: dwelsh@ucalgary.ca
- Current Research Interests
- Research Findings
- Training Opportunities
- Recent Publications
- Operating Funds
- Personnel
Current Research Interests:
Resistance arteries control tissue blood flow and these hollow organs are compirsed of two key cell types. They include the smooth muscle cells that actively contract and the endothelial cells which line the interior of the blood vessel wall. My research focuses on how ion channels and gap junctions (intercellular pores) control the electrical activity of smooth muscle/endothelial cells and consequently the ability of arteries to contract and relax. We explore the basis of areterial contractility using a range of techniques including:
1) Patch clamp electrophysiology to assess ion channel activity.
2) Western blotting to measure protein phosphorylation.
3) Confocal microscopy to ascertain Ca2+ dynamics/protein localization.
4) Electron microscopy to visualize cellular ultrastructure.
5) Pressure myography to measure arterial tone. And
6) Computational modeling to quantitatively assess charge movement and Ca2+ dynamics.
My laboratory is currently funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to probe three distinct elements of vascular control. They include:
1) Determining how constrictor stimuli use specific intracellular signaling pathways to regulate the activity of smooth muscle and endothelial K+ channels (i.e. the delayed rectifier-, the inward rectifying-, and the Ca2+ sensitive-K+channels;
2) Ascertaining how Ca2+ channels on the plasma membrane (L- and T-type) and the sarcoplasmic reticulum (ryanodine and IP3-receptors) govern arterial constriction to intravascular pressure and neurotransmitters;
3) Defining the natrue of electrical and diffusional communication among smooth muscle and/or endothelial cells. Cell-to-cell communication is essential to blood flow control and it is a process enabled by gap junctions.
To accomplish our research objectives, my laboratory actively collaborates with researchers from the United States and members of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Libin Cardiovascular Institute and Smooth Muscle Research Group at the University of Calgary.
Training Opportunities
My laboratory is currently looking for qualified students and postdoctoral fellows to become members of our research environment. Feel free to contact me at any time in regards to position information and ongoing opportunities.
Research Findings
Isolated smooth muscle cell for patch clamp electrophysiology
Recent Publications
Anfinogenova Y, Brett SE, Walsh PJ, Welsh DG. Do TRPC-like currents and G protein-coupled receptors interact to facilitate myogenic tone development? Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol: 301:(4) H1378-H1388, 2011.
Cole WC and Welsh DG. Role of myosin light chain kinase and phosphatase activities in the resistance arterial myogenic response to intravascular pressure. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 510(2):160-73, 2011.
Chen IS, Welsh DG, Dai ZK, Chen IJ, Wu BN. Protein kinases modulate store-operated channels in the pulmonary vasculature. Journal of Biomedical Sciences, 18:2:1-12, 2011.
Bishop M, Boyle P, Plank G, Welsh DG, Vigmond E. The role of coronary vasculature during external field stimulation. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 57:2335-2345, 2011.
Tran CH and Welsh DG. The differential hypothesis: A provocative rationalization of the conducted vasomotor response. Microcirculation, 17:226-36, 2010.
Mufti R, Brett SE, Tran CH, Abd El-Rahman R, El-Yazbi A, Cole WC, Jones P, Chen SR, Welsh DG. Intravascular pressue initiates cerebral arterial constriction by inducing voltage-independent Ca2+ waves. Journal of Physiology, 588:3983-4005, 2010.
Luykenaar KD, Abd El-Rahman RA, Walsh MP, Welsh DG. Rho-kinase mediated suppression of KDR currents in cerebral arteries requires an intact actin cytoskeleton. Am. J. Physiol. (Heart & Circulatory Physiology), 296: H917-H926, 2009.
Tran CH, Vigmond EJ, Plane F, Welsh DG. Mechanistic basis of differential communication in skeletal muscle arteries. Journal of Physiology. 587(Pt 6):1301-18, 2009.
Tran CH, Welsh DG. Current perspectives on differential communication in small resistance arteries. Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, 87(1):21-8, 2009.
Sandow SL, Haddock RE, Hill CE, Chadha PS, Kerr PM, Welsh DG, Plane F. What’s where and why at a vascular myoendothelial microdomain signaling complex? Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 36(1):67-76, 2009.
Smith PD, Brett SE, Luykenaar KD, Sandow SL, Marrelli SP, Vigmond EJ, Welsh DG. KIR channels function as electrical amplifiers in rat vascular smooth muscle. Journal of Physiology. 586(4): 1147-60, 2008.
Operating Funds
Canada Research Chair (Tier II). 2008-2013.
Gap Junction Regulation and Vascular Control. (Link to CRC profile).
Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions, Senior Scholar. 2006-2013.
Gap Junction Regulation and Vascular Control.
Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Operating Grant. 2010-2014.
Electrical and Second Messenger Communication in Resistance Arteries.
Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Operating Grant. 2007-2012.
KDR and KIR channel regulation in vascular smooth muscle.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. 2007-2012.
Mechano-sensitive ion channels in vascular smooth muscle.
Canadian Foundation for Innovation. 2011-2013
Confocal Microscope for Imaging Analysis.
Personnel
Suzanne Brett Welsh, Senior Research Technician/Lab Manager
Cam Ha Tran, PhD. Graduate Student (Cardiovascular & Respiratory Sciences)
AI-HS Scholarship Awardee
Rasha Abd El-Rahman, PhD. Graduate Student (Cardiovascular & Respiratory Sciences)
QEII Scholarship Awardee
Rania Mufti, PhD. Graduate Student (Cardiovascular & Respiratory Sciences) Saudi Arabian Cultural Ministry Awardee
Osama Harraz, Ph.D. Graduate Student (Cardiovascular & Respiratory Sciences)
Vanier Scholar; AI-HS Scholarship Awardee
Nina Samson, MSc Graduate Student (Cardiovascular & Respiratory Sciences)
Kamran Bidgely Shamloo, MSc Graduate Student (co-Supervised with Dr Ed Vigmond) (Engineering & Computer Science)
Active Collaborators
Dr Ed Vigmond, Engineering & Computer Science (University of Calgary)
Dr Tim Watson MD, Foothills Medical Centre
Dr William Cole (University of Calgary)
Dr Nikolaos Tsoukias (Florida International University)
Dr Mark Taylor (Univesity of Southern Alabaman
Dr Frances Plane (University of Alberta)