Kathleen G. Morgan, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Email: morgan at bbri.org

Research Summary
The main focus of the lab is the differentiated smooth muscle cell, which forms the walls of most of the hollow organs in the body. Inappropriate contraction or relaxation of smooth muscle is responsible for a number of diseases including stroke, hypertension, heart failure, asthma and premature labor.  The precise mechanisms by which smooth muscle contracts are, to a large extent, currently unknown. We use a combination of biochemical and molecular techniques, calcium indicator studies, digital imaging microscopy, and biophysical approaches such as direct isometric force measurement from single, permeabilized cells to try to define the signaling pathways by which contractility of the smooth muscle cell is regulated. By knocking out putative signaling molecules in model systems we hope to test their role in signal transduction as well as their suitability as target molecules for future therapeutic approaches.

Selected Publications
Ahn DS, Choi SK, Kim YH, Cho YE, Shin HM, Morgan KG, Lee YH. Enhanced stretch-induced myogenic tone in the basilar artery of spontaneously hypertensive rats. J Vasc Res. 2007; 44(3):182-191.

Li Y, Gallant C, Malek S, Morgan KG. Focal adhesion signaling is required for myometrial ERK activation and contractile phenotype switch before labor. J Cell Biochem 2006; 100(1):129-40.

Deng L, Trepat X, Butler JP, Millet E, Morgan KG, Weitz DA, Fredberg JJ. Fast and slow dynamics of the cytoskeleton. Nature Materials 2006; 5(8):636-40.

Ryu SK, Ahn DS, Cho YE, Choi SK, Kim YH, Morgan KG, Lee YH. Augmented sphingosylphosphorylcholine-induced Ca(2+)-sensitization of mesenteric artery contraction in spontaneously hypertensive rat. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 2006; 373(1):30-6.

Jang GJ, Ahn DS, Cho YE, Morgan KG, Lee YH. C(2)-ceramide induces vasodilation in phenylephrine-induced pre-contracted rat thoracic aorta: role of RhoA/Rho-kinase and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 2005; 372(3):242-50.

Marganski W, Gangopadhyay SS, Je HD, Gallant C, Morgan KG. Targeting of a novel Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II is essential for extracellular signal-regulated kinase-mediated signaling in differentiated smooth muscle cells. Circ Res 2005, 97(6):541-9 Full Text (PDF).

Gallant C, You JY, Sasaki Y, Grabarek Z, Morgan KG. MARCKS is a major PKC-dependent regulator of calmodulin targeting in smooth muscle. J Cell Sci. 2005, 118(Pt 16):3595-605.

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