Banes-Berceli studies hypertension

Assistant Professor and CBR member Amy Banes-Berceli studies hypertension using a sophisticated rat model, in which drugs are infused intravenously over long periods. In a recent paper in the American Journal of Physiology (Volume 301, Pages R1169-R1176), Banes-Berceli studies how Angiotensin II utilizes Janus kinase 2 in hypertension, but not in the physiological control of blood pressure, during low-salt intake. The paper concludes that “activation of the JAK/STAT pathway is critical for the development of ANG II-induced hypertension by mediating its effects on renal sodium excretory capability, but the physiological control of blood pressure by ANG II with a low-salt diet does not require JAK2 activation.”

OU coauthors on the paper include Associate Professor Harvey Qu from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and graduate students Hind Al-Azawi and Daniel Proctor, and undergraduate student Dominic Femminineo, from the Department of Biological Sciences. Banes-Berceli was highlighted recently as a researcher and mentor in an issue of Academic Update published by the Office of the Provost.

Banes-Berceli’s research is supported by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health.