Ye Chen Izu, Ph.D.
Research/Academic Interests
Ion channels, Ca2+ signaling system, Cardiac muscle cell signaling
Quantitative modeling of complex biological systems
Synopsis:
The rhythm and the strength of heart beats are controlled by three dynamic systems in cardiac
cells: (1) the electrical system, (2) the Ca2+ signaling system, and (3) the contractile system. In a
cardiac cycle, the electric excitation of cardiac muscle cell triggers an increase of the cytosolic Ca2+
concentration, which causes the muscle to contract; the Ca2+ is then sequestered or removed from
the cytosol, and the muscle relaxes.
My research is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control these dynamic
systems and hence govern the cardiac function in health and disease. We are currently funded by a
NIH-R01 grant to study the link between the contractile dysfunction to the electrical arrhythmias
in the Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
My current work focuses on the hypertension-induced heart diseases. High blood pressure is a
major risk factor for cardiac hypertrophy, arrhythmias and heart failure. So far, the main treatment
strategy is to use anti-hypertensive drugs to lower the blood pressure. However, 30-33% of the
treated patients still have blood pressure higher than the recommended level of 140/90 mmHg.
Hence finding new effective treatment for hypertension-induced heart diseases is of great clinical
importance.
Recently, we found that the onset of hypertension is associated with an increase of the activity of an
important signaling molecule in the heart, the Ca2+-calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII).
Previous studies show that CaMKII plays a key role in modulating cardiac function and regulating
heart disease development. My NIH funded project is to investigate the potential of using CaMKII
inhibitor as a new therapeutic strategy for treating hypertension-induced heart diseases.
We use multidisciplinary approach to study the complex behavior of the dynamic systems that
control cardiac function. Our unique strength comes from closely combining experimental study
with quantitative modeling. The major techniques we use include electrophysiology, confocal
microscopy, Ca2+ measurement using fluorescence indicators, biochemistry and molecular biology
methods, and large scale computer simulations.
Graduate Group Affiliations:
Biomedical Engineering
Lab Page:
Izu Lab
Title
Associate Professor
Ye Chen Izu, Ph.D.
Specialty
Pharmacology
Department
Pharmacology
Address/Phone
Genome and Biomedical Sciences Building, Genome & Biomedical Sciences Facility, 451 Health
Sciences Drive Suite 3503 Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-752-3200
Additional Phone
Phone: 530-752-3232
Email
ychenizu@ucdavis.edu
Education
Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo NY
M.S., Tsinghua University, Beijing China
B.S., National University of Defense Science and Technology, Changsha, China
Select Recent Publications
To see a complete list of Dr. Izu's publications, please click here.
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