Y. S. Prakash, M.D., Ph.D.

As an anesthesiologist and biomedical researcher, my broad research interest is lung biology in health and disease, with particular emphasis on airway and pulmonary vascular diseases such as asthma, smoking-induced lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

In this regard, disease states such as infection and inflammation, or incidents such as cigarette smoke exposure, as well as drugs given by anesthesiologists and critical care doctors, exert significant effects (sometimes deleterious) on the respiratory system. The broad goal of the studies conducted in my laboratory is to develop a basic understanding of how elements of the lung such as epithelium, smooth muscle and immune cells interact with their environment under normal circumstances and in disease states, thus allowing for identification and development of clinically-relevant drugs and techniques that we can use in the operating room, intensive care unit and clinic to provide safe and effective care to patients.

Recent work by my group has focused on signal transduction in the airway, and the mechanisms by which inflammation may influence airway tone. For example, currently one of our major projects is the role of inflammatory mediators and trophic factors (neurotrophins) in modulation of airway and pulmonary vascular function in disease (asthma, cigarette smoke exposure, premature birth). Another major project is the role of caveolae and caveolins (specialized structures in membranes of cells) in the lung. A third, rapidly progressing area of work is the role of estrogens in airway diseases such as asthma. This work has the potential to address fundamental questions regarding why men and women differ in terms of asthma or other diseases, or their susceptibility to insults such as cigarette smoke and allergens.

In our work, we use a variety of state-of-the-art techniques to study single cells and tissues, including fluorescence confocal microscopy, real-time Ca2+ imaging, muscle mechanics, laser capture microdissection, immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology.

Specific projects include:

1. Neurotrophic factors in airway diseases
2. Neurotrophic factors in pulmonary hypertension
3. Cigarette smoke induced changes in the airway
4. Caveolae and caveolins in airway contractility
5. Role of estrogens in asthma
6. Diseases of the immature airway (bronchopulmonary dysplasia)