Courtney Griffin, Ph.D.

Cardiovascular Biology Research Program
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Oklahoma City, OK

From left to right: Dr. Mandi Wiley, Kyle Ingram, Dr. Patrick Crosswhite, Dr. Courtney Griffin, Dr. E-Ching Ong and Vijay Muthukumar

Primary Research:

Our lab is interested in the transcriptional regulation of genes that impact vascular development and maintenance. We specifically study ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes, which transiently modulate chromatin to facilitate transcriptional regulation. By generating mice with mutations in these complexes, we assess how chromatin remodeling influences expression of genes that affect endothelial cell morphology and behavior. This novel approach has led us to examine vascular Wnt signaling, arterio-venous specification, lymphatic development, and vascular integrity in both embryonic and postnatal contexts. Our long-term goal is to generate insights that can be exploited for developing therapeutic approaches to combat vascular pathologies.

Lab website:

Home

Lab Members:

Mandi Wiley, Ph.D. (postdoc)
Patrick Crosswhite, Ph.D. (postdoc)
E-Ching Ong, Ph.D. (postdoc)
Kyle Ingram (Ph.D. student)
Vijay Muthukumar, M.S., M.B.A. (lab manager)

Recent Alumnae:

Reema Davis, Ph.D. (current postdoc at UNC-Chapel Hill)
Carol Curtis, Ph.D. (current R&D Project Manager, EpimedX)

Number of trainees in the laboratory:

Four (with room to grow, so contact Courtney if you are interested in a training opportunity)

Ingram, K.G., Curtis, C.D., Silasi-Mansat, R., Lupu, F., and Griffin, C.T. (2013) The NuRD chromatin-remodeling enzyme CHD4 promotes embryonic vascular integrity by transcriptionally regulating extracellular matrix proteolysis. PLoS Genetics, 9(12): e1004031.

Davis, R.B., Curtis, C.D., and Griffin, C.T. (2013) BRG1 promotes Coup-TFII expression and venous specification during embryonic vascular development. Development, 140(6): 1272-1281.

Curtis, C.D., Davis, R.B., Ingram, K.G., and Griffin, C.T. (2012) Chromatin-remodeling complex specificity and embryonic vascular development. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 69(23): 3921-3931.

Curtis, C.D. and Griffin, C.T.  (2012) The chromatin-remodeling enzymes BRG1 and CHD4 antagonistically regulate vascular Wnt signaling.  Molecular and Cellular Biology, 32(7): 1312-1320.

Griffin, C.T^1,2., Curtis, C.D.², Davis, R.B., Muthukumar, V. and Magnuson, T. (2011) The chromatin-remodeling enzyme BRG1 modulates vascular Wnt signaling at two levels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 108(6): 2282-2287.

¹Corresponding author; ²Co-authors