Andrew Halayko

Biography

B.Sc. (4 Year) (Biology), Univ. of Winnipeg, 1983 M.Sc. (Plant Science), Univ. of Manitoba, 1987 Ph.D. (Physiology), Univ. of Manitoba, 1996 Postdoctoral Fellow (Respiratory and Critical Care), Univ. of Chicago, 1996-99 Assistant Professor (Physiology and Internal Medicine), Univ of Manitoba, 1999-present Associate Professor (Physiology and Internal Medicine), Univ of Manitoba, 2004- present

Research Interest

Our long-term research objective is to elucidate mechanisms that control airway smooth muscle cell phenotype and function, and identify how they contribute the role of airway myocytes in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. Airway smooth muscle cells retain a capacity for phenotype plasticity, thus they can regulate airway lumen diameter both acutely, through contraction and through altered contractile responsiveness, and chronically, as key players driving fibro-proliferative and inflammatory features of airway remodelling, including dramatic airway smooth muscle hypertrophy. Our laboratory has been instrumental in developing current paradigms for smooth muscle/mesenchymal cell plasticity in the airways, describing the existence of stable phenotypically distinct mesenchymal cell subpopulations, and identifying molecular mechanisms for their development. We use cell and molecular biology, and whole animal physiology techniques to investigative molecular mechanisms that mediate altered smooth muscle and airway function in asthma. We have established research expertise in several areas including primary cell culture of human and animal airway myocytes and fibroblasts, flow cytometry techniques to isolate distinct airway myocyte subpopulations, assessment of gene promoter activity, transient expression of signalling proteins using mammalian expression vectors, confocal microscopy, measuring intracellular calcium flux in live cells, applying mechanical strain to cultures cells, detecting and measuring cell-cell coupling using fluorescent imaging techniques, measurement of mouse lung function using whole body plethysmography, and measurement of pharmacological and contractile proper6ties of isolated airway smooth muscle preparations.