Associate Professor
Email: jpv-m@berkeley.edu
Phone: (510) 664-5063
Lab Webpage: https://www.vazquezmedinalab.com/
Research Description
We study mechanisms of adaptation to natural and anthropogenic stressors in marine mammals and pre-clinical models of disease at the molecular, cellular and organismal level. Our goal is to understand the role of oxidative stress and redox signaling in physiological adaptation and human disease. Current projects include 1) cellular and physiological consequences of chronic stress in marine mammals, 2) cellular mechanisms underlying the diving response and 3) role of peroxiredoxin 6 in acute and chronic inflammation.
Selected Publications
Fisher AB, Vázquez-Medina JP, Dodia C, Sorokina E, Tao, JQ, Feinstein SI. 2017. Peroxiredoxin 6 phospholipid hydroperoxidase activity in the repair of peroxidized cell membranes. Redox Biol. 14, 41-46.
Vázquez-Medina JP, Dodia C, Weng L, Mesaros C, Blair IA, Feinstein SI, Chatterjee S, Fisher AB. 2016. The phospholipase A2 activity of peroxiredoxin 6 modulates NADPH oxidase 2 activation via lysophosphatidic acid receptor signaling in the pulmonary endothelium and alveolar macrophages. FASEB J. 30, 2885-2898.
Sharick JT, Vázquez-Medina JP, Ortiz RM, Crocker DE. 2015. Oxidative stress is a potential cost of breeding in male and female northern elephant seals. Funct. Ecol., 29, 367-376.
Lopez-Cruz RI, Barjau Perez-Milicua M, Crocker DE, Gaxiola-Robles R, Bernal J, de la Rosa A, Vázquez-Medina JP, Zenteno-Savin T. 2014. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase and xanthine oxidase activities in erythrocytes and plasma from marine, semiaquatic and terrestrial mammals. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Mol. Integr. Physiol., 171, 31-35
Vázquez-Medina JP, Popovich I, Thorwald MA, Rodriguez R, Soñanez-Organis JG, Viscarra JA, Lam L, Peti-Peterdi J, Nakano D, Nishiyama A, Ortiz RM. 2013. Angiotensin receptor mediated oxidative stress is associated with impaired cardiac redox signaling and mitochondrial function in insulin resistant rats. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol., 305, H599-H4607.
Vázquez-Medina JP, Zenteno-Savín T, Elsner R, Ortiz RM. 2012. Coping with physiological oxidative stress: a review of antioxidant strategies in seals. J. Comp. Physiol. B, 182, 741-750.
Vázquez-Medina JP, Zenteno-Savín T, Tift MS, Forman HJ, Crocker DE, Ortiz RM. 2011. Apnea stimulates the adaptive response to oxidative stress in elephant seal pups. J. Exp. Biol., 214, 4193-4200.