Welcome to Lee and Wu Lab

Research

Cardiopulmonary arrest and stroke are the major cause of death/disability in the U.S. with poor prognosis and survival rates. The current therapeutic challenges are physiologically complex because they involved hypoperfusion [decreased cerebral blood flow], neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Our long-term goal is to identify these complex regulatory elements that ultimately control neuronal viability in order to lay the foundation for a common therapy greatly improving outcome. Our laboratory is currently investigating 1) the therapeutic potential of novel kinase inhibitors (e.g., Serum/Glucocorticoid Regulated Kinase) against cardiac arrest and stroke and 2) regulatory mechanisms of cerebrovascular dynamics by sympathetic nervous system in cerebral ischemia. To study cardiac arrest and stroke, we use clinically relevant models of cardiac arrest and stroke (asphyxia- and KCl-induced rodent cardiac arrest and photothrombotic stroke model) coupled with cutting-edge techniques, including in vivo two-photon laser scanning microscopy for real-time analyses of cortical cerebral blood flow; Microspectrofluorometry for mitochondrial ion homeostasis; Mitochondria respiration measurements in a hippocampal slice preparation via Seahorse respirometry.