HELENA (ELENA) PARFENOVA, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Physiology

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Address

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

894 Union Avenue

Memphis, TN 38163

Tel: (901) 448-8319; Fax: (901) 448-7126;

Lab: 305 Nash Research Building

Education

Ph.D. Institution: Institute of Cytology, Leningrad (St Petersburg), Russia.

Research Interests

Maintaining cerebral blood flow during cerebrovascular insults is critical for neuroprotection in the newborn. Our goal is to understand the endogenous mechanisms that protect neonatal brain from long-term effects of acute cerebrovascular insults caused by seizures. We investigate the roles of heme oxygenase (HO) and carbon monoxide (CO), the HO-derived endogenous gaseous mediator, in promoting survival of brain endothelial cells during cerebral vascular insult caused by seizures and oxidative stress. Seizures cause sustained cerebral vascular injury, reduction of brain endothelial dilator function, and subsequent loss of cerebral blood flow regulation. Activation of endogenous HO/CO system or pharmacological delivery of CO to the brain reduces brain oxidative stress, prevents cerebral vascular endothelial injury, and restores cerebral vascular endothelial function. We investigate the HO/CO system as a critical component of anti-apoptotic mechanisms involved in protecting the brain from cerebral vascular injury caused by seizures and oxidative stress. Our latest project is finding the correlation between the cerebral vascular injuries and circulating endothelial cells in the peripheral blood that may predict potential secondary neurological injury caused by cerebrovascular disease. The projects involve in vivo and in vitro studies in newborn pigs using intravital microscopy of cerebral resistance arterioles (closed cranial windows) for detection of cerebral blood flow responses, isolated cerebral microvessels, and primary cultures of cerebral microvascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells.

Links

Physiology - Helena Parfenova

Recent Publications

• Basuroy S, Bhattacharya S, Leffler CW, Parfenova H. Nox4 NADPH oxidase mediates oxidative stress and apoptosis caused by TNF-alpha in cerebral vascular endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2009 Mar;296(3):C422-32. Epub 2008 Dec 31. PMID: 19118162
• Parfenova H, Leffler CW. Cerebroprotective functions of HO-2. Curr Pharm Des. 2008;14(5):443-53. Review. PMID: 18289071
• Zimmermann A, Leffler CW, Tcheranova D, Fedinec AL, Parfenova H. Cerebroprotective effects of the CO-releasing molecule CORM-A1 against seizure-induced neonatal vascular injury. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2007 Oct;293(4):H2501-7. Epub 2007 Jul 13. PMID: 17630349
• Leffler CW, Parfenova H, Fedinec AL, Basuroy S, Tcheranova D. Contributions of astrocytes and CO to pial arteriolar dilation to glutamate in newborn pigs. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006 Dec;291(6):H2897-904. Epub 2006 Aug 4. PMID: 16891404
• Basuroy S, Bhattacharya S, Tcheranova D, Qu Y, Regan RF, Leffler CW, Parfenova H. HO-2 provides endogenous protection against oxidative stress and apoptosis caused by TNF-alpha in cerebral vascular endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2006 Nov;291(5):C897-908. Epub 2006 Jul 5. PMID: 16822952
• Leffler CW, Parfenova H, Jaggar JH, Wang R. Carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide: gaseous messengers in cerebrovascular circulation. J Appl Physiol. 2006 Mar;100(3):1065-76. Review. PMID: 16467393

view complete list of references (pubmed link)