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Congqing Wu, PhD

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cwu3@uky.edu
741 South Limestone

Positions

  • Assistant Professor

College Unit(s)

Other Affiliation(s)
  • Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics - Joint Faculty

Biography and Education

Biography

My research interests are inflammatory mechanisms in both acute and chronic inflammation, with a focus on inflammasome (pyroptotic cell death) and thrombosis (abnormal blood clotting) in cardiovascular diseases.

Education

PhD in Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky

Research

My lab is at the intersection of innate immunity and vascular diseases, with a focus on thrombosis (excessive blood clotting). As part of the body's immune defense, inflammasomes are intracellular multi-protein sensors to invasive pathogens and endogenous danger and stress signals. Inflammasome activation leads to caspase-dependent pyroptosis, a lytic form of cell death, and maturation/release of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β/IL-18. Our recent work on bacterial infection/sepsis has shown that bacterial protein products as well as LPS activate inflammasome and induce pyroptosis, which triggers systemic coagulation through the release of tissue factor-positive extracellular vesicles. Our current projects include: 1. the feedforward cycle between inflammasome and blood clotting; 2. the role of tissue factor-positive extracelluar vesicles in thrombosis; 3. blood extracelluar vesicle signatures for t the prediction of hrombosis; 3. biogenesis of pyroptosis-derived extracelluar vesicles.

Selected Publications

Mechanosensitive PPAP2B Regulates Endothelial Responses to Atherorelevant Hemodynamic Forces. Wu C, Huang RT, Kuo CH, Kumar S, Kim CW, Lin YC, Chen YJ, Birukova A, Birukov KG, Dulin NO, Civelek M, Lusis AJ, Loyer X, Tedgui A, Dai G, Jo H, Fang Y. Circ Res. 2015 Jul 31;117(4):e41-e53. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.306457. Epub 2015 Jun 1.

Angiotensinogen Exerts Effects Independent of Angiotensin II. Lu H, Wu C, Howatt DA, Balakrishnan A, Moorleghen JJ, Chen X, Zhao M, Graham MJ, Mullick AE, Crooke RM, Feldman DL, Cassis LA, Vander Kooi CW, Daugherty A. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2016 Feb;36(2):256-65. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.115.306740. Epub 2015 Dec 17. Updates on Approaches for Studying Atherosclerosis. Wu C, Daugherty A, Lu HS. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2019 Apr;39(4):e108-e117. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.312001. 

Inflammasome Activation Triggers Blood Clotting and Host Death through Pyroptosis. Wu C, Lu W, Zhang Y, Zhang G, Shi X, Hisada Y, Grover SP, Zhang X, Li L, Xiang B, Shi J, Li XA, Daugherty A, Smyth SS, Kirchhofer D, Shiroishi T, Shao F, Mackman N, Wei Y, Li Z. Immunity. 2019 Jun 18;50(6):1401-1411.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2019.04.003. Epub 2019 May 7. 

Two Amino Acids Proximate to the Renin Cleavage Site of Human Angiotensinogen Do Not Affect Blood Pressure and Atherosclerosis in Mice-Brief Report. Wu CH, Wu C, Howatt DA, Moorleghen JJ, Cassis LA, Daugherty A, Lu HS. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020 Sep;40(9):2108-2113. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.314048. Epub 2020 Jul 9. 

Effects of Renin-Angiotensin Inhibition on ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2) and TMPRSS2 (Transmembrane Protease Serine 2) Expression: Insights Into COVID-19. Wu C, Ye D, Mullick AE, Li Z, Danser AHJ, Daugherty A, Lu HS. Hypertension. 2020 Oct;76(4):e29-e30. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15782. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Predicting Gene Expression From Computed Tomography Angiography. Wu C, Ley K. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2021 May 5;41(5):1751-1752. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.121.316195. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Research Gate Pubmed Publications