My research group focuses on the role played by intracellular Ca2+ in the control of contractility in smooth muscle, particularly in retinal microvessels.  This research makes use of microfluorimetry and fast, Ca2+-imaging techniques to investigate how [Ca2+] changes within the cytoplasm and what the functional significance of such changes are.  This includes consideration of the effects of localised Ca2+-sparks, cell-wide Ca2+-waves and oscillations, and cell-to-cell spread of Ca2+-signals within microvessels.  This research is particularly relevant to our understanding of how blood flow is controlled by changes in the diameter of microvessels.  Much of this work is part of longstanding investigations into how diabetes, a major cause of blindness, affects these small blood vessels, and is carried out with an internationally recognised group of scientists studying the mechanisms responsible for diabetic retinopathy.  Other techniques used within the laboratory include:

• Whole cell and single channel electrophysiology
• Immuno- and histochemistry with confocal microscopy
• Real time quantitative PCR
• In vitro pressure myography using isolated retinal arterioles
• In vivo imaging of blood vessels and blood flow in retinal vessels

 

This multi-faceted approach is revealing new details of physiological and pathophysiological cell signalling within the microvasculature, especially in the context of the early functional changes seen in diabetes.

Distribution of RyR2 in retinal arteriolar myocytes

 

 

Modification of a Ca2+ spark by tetracaine

 

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