Pharmacologic Targeting of Red Blood Cells to Improve Tissue Oxygenation.

Research interests include the study of cardiorespiratory function in humans during challenging clinical settings including the perioperative period, and exposure to environmental conditions such as diving and high altitude. Studies have included gas exchange during diving, the pathophysiology of high altitude and immersion pulmonary edema, the effect of anesthesia and postoperative analgesia on pulmonary function and monitoring of tissue oxygenation. Ongoing human studies include the effect of respiratory muscle training on chemosensitivity and blood gases during stressful breathing: underwater exercise.

Dr. Piantadosi's laboratory has special expertise in the pathogenic mechanisms of acute organ failure, particularly acute lung injury (ALI), with an emphasis on the molecular regulatory roles of the physiological gases— oxygen, carbon monoxide, and nitric oxide— as they relate to the damage responses to acute inflammation. The basic science focuses on oxidative processes and redox-regulation, especially the molecular mechanisms by which reactive oxygen and nitrogen species transmit biological signals involved in the maintenance of energy metabolism and mitochondrial health, but also contribute to pathogenesis and to the resolution of tissue injury.

Clinically, ALI and the related syndrome of multiple organ failure has a high mortality, which is related to the host inflammatory response, but is not well understood scientifically; thus, the laboratory is devoted to understanding these mechanisms in the context of the host response to relevant but well-controlled experimental manipulations including hyperoxia, bacterial infections, toxic drugs, and cytokine/chemokine signals. The approach relies on animal models, mainly transgenic and knockout mice, and cell models, especially lung and heart cells to evaluate and understand the physiology, pathology, and cell and molecular biology of the injury responses, to test independent and integrated mechanisms, and to devise interventions to prevent damage.

Apart from the lung, significant work is devoted to understanding damage to the heart, brain, liver, and kidney caused by these immune mechanisms, specifically emphasizing the role of mitochondria, key targets and sources of oxidative damage. This damage compromises their ability to support energy homeostasis and advanced cellular functions, and impacts on the important roles these organelles play in cell death by apoptosis and necrosis as well as in the resolution of cellular damage and inflammation.