Department Name

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
 

Dr. Jiang's research interest is in the mechanisms of vein graft wall remodeling, including neointimal hyperplasia and structural reassembly.  While vein grafts may undergo favorite remodeling so that the grafts will stay patent and bypass blood flow around the occluded arteries to the ischemic end organs, they usually become either narrowed or occluded due to the excessive neointimal formation and/or wall shrinkage, causing heart attack, stroke, and limb loss.  Dr. Jiang has been utilizing in vivo animal models (mice and rabbits) to study these pathologies under various hemodynamic conditions.  He has also integrated in vitro approaches, such as cell culture and molecular methodologies (real time RT-PCR, microarray), in his research to understand the cellular events and molecular mediators of these pathologies. 

His future research work will focus on the TGF-b biology and the vein graft wall.  TGF-b is a pleiotropic cytokine that is able to regulate cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation.  A recent intriguing discovery that graft extrinsic cells participate in the graft wall remodeling has touched off enthusiasm for exploring mechanisms underlying the recruitment of these cells to the graft wall.  Using genetic (Cre-loxP system) and molecular (antisense/siRNA) approaches, Dr. Jiang will examine the impact of cell-type specific TGF-b signaling on vein graft neointimal formation.  His long-term goal is to delineate the role of TGF-b in regulating the behavior of both graft- intrinsic and extrinsic (neighboring and circulating progenitor/bone marrow stem cells) cells during vein graft remodeling, decipher the intracellular signaling pathways (Smad- dependent and independent), and develop therapeutic approach to prolong the vein graft durability.

PUBLICATIONS:

Original Reports

1. Jiang Z, Yang C.  Advances in the donor lung preservation.  Foreign Medicine: respiratory system. 1998; 18: 7-10.

2. Jiang Z, Yang C.  Establishment of rat orthotopic left lung transplantation model.  Chin J Exp Surg. 1999; 16: 185-186.

3. Jiang Z, Yang C.  ICAM-1 expression in the rat transplanted lung.  Chin J Organ Transplant. 2000; 21: 213-215.

4. Jiang Z, Wu L, Miller BL, Goldman DR, Fernandez CM, Abouhamze ZS, Ozaki CK, Berceli SA.  A novel vein graft model: adaptation to differential flow environments.  Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2004; 286: H240-5.

5. Berceli SA, Jiang Z, Klingman N, Pfahnl CL, Abouhamze ZS, Frase C, Schultz GS, Ozaki CK.  Differential expression and activity of MMPs during flow-modulated vein graft remodeling.  J Vasc Surg. 2004; 39: 1084-90.

6. Jiang Z, Berceli SA, Pfahnl CL, Wu L, Goldman DR, Tao M, Kagayama M, Matsukawa A, Ozaki CK.  Wall shear modulation of cytokines in the early vein graft.  J Vasc Surg. 2004; 40: 345-50.

7. Fernandez CM, Goldman DR, Jiang Z, Ozaki CK, Tran-Son-Tay R, Berceli SA.  Impact of shear stress on early vein graft remodeling: a biomechanical analysis.  Ann Biomed Eng. 2004; 32: 1484-93.

8. Jiang Z, Berceli SA, Pfahnl CL, Wu L, Killingsworth CD, Vieira FG, Ozaki CK.  Impact of IL-1b on flow induced outward arterial remodeling.  Surgery. 2004; 136: 478-82.

9. Berceli SA, Jiang Z, Klingman NV, Schultz GS, and Ozaki CK.  Flow regulation of MMP-2 and -9 during arterial and vein graft adaptations.  J Surg Res.  In press.

10. Jiang Z, Berceli SA, Pfahnl CL, Wu L, Miller BL, Ozaki CK.  Differential temporal expression and wall shear stress modulation of TNF-a and IL-10 expression-impact on remodeling.  Submitted.

11. Jiang Z, Shukla A, Miller BA, Espino DR, Tao M, Berceli SA, and Ozaki CK.  TNF- a and the early vein graft.  Submitted. 

Book Chapters

1. Jiang Z, Berceli SA, Ozaki CK.  Vascular biology: atherosclerosis and intimal hyperplasia.  In: Zelenock GB, Lumsden AB, Messina LM, Moneta GL, Huber TS.  Mastery of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery.  Lippincott-Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia.  2006:3-8.