Research Associate Professor of Physiology and Bioengineering

Research Interests

Nitric oxide, oxygen, neurological function and regulation of blood flow in the eye, carotid body, brain and tumors. Hyperbaric oxygen, carbon monoxide injury, hypoxia, ischemia and reperfusion injury. Mathematical modeling of biotransport phenomena.

Research Techniques

Electrochemical microsensors for measuring tissue nitric oxide, oxygen, catecholamines, hydrogen peroxide, pH and ions. Laser Doppler blood flow measurements.

Summary of Research Program

In vivo laser Doppler measurements of blood flow and simultaneous microelectrode measurements of tissue nitric oxide, oxygen and other chemical species are being made in the cat retina and optic nerve, mouse and rat brain, and tumors implanted in mice and rats. Mechanisms of oxygen sensing and chemosensory transduction are being studied in perfused rat, rabbit and cat carotid bodies from in vitro measurements of tissue nitric oxide, oxygen and dopamine with simultaneous changes in neural discharge. The role of nitric oxide in brain injury following carbon monoxide exposure, and the effects of hyperbaric oxygen on brain nitric oxide and cerebral blood flow are being investigated.

Key References

Buerk, D.G., Osanai, S., Mokashi, A. and S. Lahiri. Dopamine, sensory discharge and stimulus interaction with CO2 and O2 in cat carotid body. J. Appl. Physiol., 85:1719-1726, 1998.

Buerk, D.G. and C.E. Riva. Vasomotion and spontaneous low frequency oscillations in blood flow and nitric oxide in cat optic nerve head. Microvas. Res., 55:103-112, 1998.

Buerk, D.G., Tsai, A.G., Intaglietta, M. and P.C. Johnson. In vivo tissue pO2 measurements in hamster skinfold by microelectrodes and phosphorescence are in agreement. Microcirc., 5:219-225, 1998.

Tsai, A.G., Friesenecker, B., Mazzoni, M.C., Kerger, H., Buerk, D.G., Johnson, P.C. and M. Intaglietta. Microvascular and tissue oxygen gradients in the rat mesentery. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95: 6590-6595, 1998.

Ye, G-F., Jaron, D., Buerk, D.G., Chou, M-C. and W. Shi. O2-Hb reaction kinetics and the Fahraeus effect during stagnant, hypoxic and anemic supply deficit. Ann. Biomed. Eng., 26:60-75, 1998.

Buerk, D.G. and S. Lahiri. Evidence that nitric oxide plays a role in O2 sensing from tissue NO and PO2 measurements in cat carotid body. In: Oxygen Sensing: Molecule to Man, Eds. S. Lahiri, N.R. Prabhakar, R.E. Forster, II. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 475:337-347, 2000.

Fukamura, D., Gohongi, T., Kadambi, A., Ang, J., Yun, C-O., Buerk, D.G., Huang, P.L. and R.K. Jain. Predominant role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in VEGF-induced angiogenesis and vascular permeability. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 98:2604-2609, 2001.

Buerk, D.G., Atochin, D., and C. Riva. Investigating the role of nitric oxide in regulating blood flow and oxygen delivery from in vivo electrochemical measurements in eye and brain. In: Oxygen Transport to Tissue XXII, Eds: H. Swartz and J. Dunn, Plenum Press, New York, N.Y., in press, 2001.

Buerk, D.G. Can we model NO biotransport? A survey of mathematical models for a simple diatomic molecule with surprisingly complex biological activities. Annual Rev. Biomed. Eng., Vol. 3., 2001, in press.

Lahiri, S., Rozanov, C., Roy, A., Storey, B., and D.G. Buerk. Regulation of oxygen sensing by peripheral arterial chemoreceptors. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol., 2001, in press.