Other School of Medicine Affiliations
Institute for Environmental Medicine
Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Program in Cellular Physiology

Degrees
B.S., Dickinson College, 1956
M.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1960

Honors
Phi Beta Kappa Society
Alpha Omega Alpha Society
Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching

Professional Affiliations
American Physiological Society
American Thoracic Society
American Society for Cell Biology
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Oxygen Society

Research Description
Lung surfactant is a lipoprotein secretory product of alveolar epithelium that serves to stabilize lung alveoli during the respiratory cycle. Our studies are directed towards understanding regulation of the cellular processing of lung surfactant. Current projects include evaluation of granular pneumocyte receptors for surfactant-associated proteins; mechanisms for endocytosis of lung surfactant; coupling of endocytosis to secretion; and pathways for intracellular trafficking and degradation of internalized surfactant components. Major emphasis is directed toward study of the role and properties of a novel Ca++-independent phospholipase A2 that we have isolated from lung epithelium. Delineation of the pathways of surfactant metabolism will provide important information for understanding the respiratory distress syndrome including its treatment by the administration of exogenous surfactant. A second area of research is the study of mechanisms for lung injury associated with decreased organ bloodflow. Ischemia/reperfusion injury is evaluated using in vivo and isolated perfused rat lung models. Lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation under varying conditions of oxygenation are correlated with alterations of lung function and with anti-oxidant capacity of tissue. This program investigates mechanisms for initiation of oxygen-derived radical production, the roles of Fe++ and peroxynitrite as oxidants, the pathways for protein oxidation, and novel methods for treatment with anti-oxidants. A goal of these studies is to develop methods for prevention and treatment of ischemia-mediated lung injury.

Representative Publications
Chatterjee S, Al-Mehdi A, Levitan I, Stevens T, Fisher AB. Shear stress increases expression of a KATP channel in rat and bovine pulmonary vascular endothelial cells. Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiol.). 285: C959-67, 2003.

Manevich Y, Sweitzer T, Pak JH, Feinstein SI, Muzykantov V, Fisher AB. 1-cys peroxiredoxin overexpression protects cells against phospholipid peroxidation-mediated membrane damage. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 99:11599-11604, 2002.

Wei Z, Al-Mehdi AB, and Fisher AB. Signaling pathway for nitric oxide generation with simulated ischemia in flow-adapted endothelial cells. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol., 281: H2226-H2232, 2001.

Chen J-W, Dodia C, Feinstein SI, Jain MK and Fisher AB. 1-cys peroxiredoxin: A bifunctional enzyme with glutathione peroxidase and phospholipase A2 activities. J. Biol. Chem., 276: 28421-28427, 2000.

Click here for a full list of publications
(searches the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database.)