Amy L. Tucker
Associate Clinical Professor, Medicine- Cardiovascular Medicine
- MS, University of Alabama
General cardiology, adult congenital heart disease; Adenosine receptors
Adenosine is a purine nucleoside released from ischemic and hypoxic tissues that acts to restore homeostasis by increasing blood supply and decreasing metabolic demand. My laboratory studies the role of adenosine in the modulation of angiogenesis. Our interests include the effects of adenosine to promote angiogenesis through direct stimulation of vascular cells, as well as the indirect effects promoting release of angiogenic growth factors from inflammatory cells . We use several model systems to identify mechanisms of adenosine-modulated angiogenesis in specific cells and tissues, including the chicken chorioallantoic membrane, rat thoracic aortic ring, murine hindlimb ischemia, and murine myocardial infarction models. We are using adenosine receptor subtype-deficient murine models to understand the unique roles of adenosine receptor subtypes. We also use recombinant mutated adenosine receptors expressed in cultured cells to study the site of action of drugs that enhance the protective effects of adenosine. Our laboratory has access to novel adenosine receptor ligands and allosteric enhancers. Ultimately, we would like to exploit adenosine receptors in therapeutic manipulation of angiogenesis to treat ischemia and/or cancer. Additionally, we have used gene targeting to develop a knock-out mouse deficient in phospholemman, a major cardiac membrane protein regulated by adenosine, that is important in maintaining cardiac intracellular sodium and calcium concentrations in response to adrenergic stimulation.
Adenosine is a purine nucleoside released from ischemic and hypoxic tissues that acts to restore homeostasis by increasing blood supply and decreasing metabolic demand. My laboratory studies the role of adenosine in the modulation of angiogenesis. Our interests include the effects of adenosine to promote angiogenesis through direct stimulation of vascular cells, as well as the indirect effects promoting release of angiogenic growth factors from inflammatory cells . We use several model systems to identify mechanisms of adenosine-modulated angiogenesis in specific cells and tissues, including the chicken chorioallantoic membrane, rat thoracic aortic ring, murine hindlimb ischemia, and murine myocardial infarction models. We are using adenosine receptor subtype-deficient murine models to understand the unique roles of adenosine receptor subtypes. We also use recombinant mutated adenosine receptors expressed in cultured cells to study the site of action of drugs that enhance the protective effects of adenosine. Our laboratory has access to novel adenosine receptor ligands and allosteric enhancers. Ultimately, we would like to exploit adenosine receptors in therapeutic manipulation of angiogenesis to treat ischemia and/or cancer. Additionally, we have used gene targeting to develop a knock-out mouse deficient in phospholemman, a major cardiac membrane protein regulated by adenosine, that is important in maintaining cardiac intracellular sodium and calcium concentrations in response to adrenergic stimulation.
Selected Publications
2015
Zhang, X. -Q., Wang, J., Song, J., Rabinowitz, J., Chen, X., Houser, S. R., . . . Cheung, J. Y. (2015). Regulation of L-type calcium channel by phospholemman in cardiac myocytes. JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR CARDIOLOGY, 84, 104-111. doi:10.1016/j.yjmcc.2015.04.017
2014
Pastore, L. M., Rossi, A. M., & Tucker, A. L. (2014). Process improvements and shared medical appointments for cardiovascular disease prevention in women. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, 26(10), 555-561. doi:10.1002/2327-6924.12071
2013
Pinkerton, J. V., Pastore, L. M., Johns, D. W., & Tucker, A. L. (2013). Risk of first-time heart disease higher for hormone therapy users with metabolic syndrome. MENOPAUSE-THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MENOPAUSE SOCIETY, 20(3), 244-247. doi:10.1097/gme.0b013e3182850c5d
2012
Ramdas, K., Teisberg, E., & Tucker, A. L. (2012). 4 Ways to Reinvent Service Delivery. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, 90(12), 98-+.
Mirza, M. A., Lane, S., Yang, Z., Karaoli, T., Akosah, K., Hossack, J., . . . Tucker, A. L. (2012). Phospholemman Deficiency in Postinfarct Hearts: Enhanced Contractility but Increased Mortality. CTS-CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE, 5(3), 235-242. doi:10.1111/j.1752-8062.2012.00403.x
2011
Wang, J., Gao, E., Rabinowitz, J., Song, J., Zhang, X. -Q., Koch, W. J., . . . Cheung, J. Y. (2011). Regulation of in vivo cardiac contractility by phospholemman: role of Na+/Ca2+ exchange. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY, 300(3), H859-H868. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00894.2010
Rossi, A. M., Tucker, A. L., & Hedelt, A. C. (2011). Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Tailored for Women: Shared Medical Appointments. JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR NURSING, 26(4), 276-277.
2010
Wang, J., Gao, E., Song, J., Zhang, X. -Q., Li, J., Koch, W. J., . . . Cheung, J. Y. (2010). Phospholemman and β-adrenergic stimulation in the heart. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY, 298(3), H807-H815. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00877.2009
Cohn, W. F., Ropka, M. E., Pelletier, S. L., Barrett, J. R., Kinzie, M. B., Harrison, M. B., . . . Knaus, W. A. (2010). Health Heritage©, a Web-Based Tool for the Collection and Assessment of Family Health History: Initial User Experience and Analytic Validity. PUBLIC HEALTH GENOMICS, 13(7-8), 477-491. doi:10.1159/000294415
