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Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory |
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Sukriti Nag, MBBS, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCPC Anatomic Pathologist and Neuropathologist Professor of Pathology, Neuropathology Past Head of Neuropathology, University of Toronto Past President, Canadian Association of Neuropathologists
Our main research interest is the biology of cerebral endothelium and the reactivity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in health and disease with emphasis on the pathogenesis of BBB breakdown in CNS disorders. Breakdown of the BBB leads to brain edema, which may be fatal in several diseases such as infections, stroke, brain tumors, trauma and hypertensive encephalopathy. Our laboratory is investigating the pathobiology of BBB breakdown using the acute and chronic hypertension models and the rat cortical cold injury model. The role of angiogenic factors such as the VEGF's, angiopoietins and nitric oxide in BBB breakdown and angiogenesis is presently being studied using molecular techniques. Two structural features of cerebral endothelial cells which limit BBB permeability to proteins are fewer caveolae and circumferential tight junctions. The molecular era has led to the isolation of many proteins in both endothelial caveolae and cerebral endothelial tight junctions. The role of proteins such as caveolin-1, a major constituent of endothelial caveolae and the tight junction proteins – claudin-5, occludin and zonula occludens-1, in BBB breakdown is being investigated. The long-term goal is to develop strategies, to modulate the degree of BBB breakdown and edema following CNS injury.
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