MCS Featured Lab - June 2020


Camilla Ferreira Wenceslau, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
The University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences
Dr Camilla Ferreira Wenceslau

Research Description:

The overarching goal of my laboratory is to understand vascular physiology in cardiovascular diseases. We study the mechanisms associated with the vascular-immune network in hypertension, metabolic syndrome and sepsis. Specifically, we question why immunoreceptors that are crucial for chemotaxis and inflammation in sentinel cells, are expressed in the vasculature? Further, does activation or inhibition of these receptors play a role in the vascular physiology and pathophysiology? To answer these questions, my laboratory employs a wide range of cutting-edge techniques and multidisciplinary in vivo and in vitro experimental approaches including clinically relevant diseased mouse and rat models and human blood vessels. Currently, my laboratory includes a diverse team of scientists including a Ph.D. student (funded by NSF), three master students (including one Fulbright fellow), a research associate, and a physician-scientist.

Lab Website:

https://www.utoledo.edu/med/depts/physpharm/faculty/WenceslauLab.html

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/WenceslauLab

Top lesson you have learned in your career:

Diversity and small changes can make a fourth power difference

Recent Publications:

  • Edwards JM, Roy S, Tomcho JC, Schreckenberger ZJ, Chakraborty S, Bearss NR, Saha P, McCarthy CG, Vijay-Kumar M, Joe B, Wenceslau CF. Microbiota are critical for vascular physiology: Germ-free status weakens contractility and induces sex-specific vascular remodeling in mice. Vascul Pharmacol. 2020 Feb-Mar;125-126:106633. doi: 10.1016/j.vph.2019.106633. (PMID: 31843471)
  • Edwards JM, McCarthy CG, Wenceslau CF. The obligatory role of the acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent contraction in hypertension: Can arachidonic acid resolve this inflammation? Curr Pharm Des. 2020 Apr 17 (in press)
  • Wenceslau CF, McCarthy CG, Szasz T, Calmasini FB, Mamenko M, Webb RC. Formyl peptide receptor-1 activation exerts a critical role for the dynamic plasticity of arteries via actin polymerization. Pharmacol Res. 2019 Mar;141:276-290 (PMID: 30639374)