Peter R. Brink

Image: Peter R. Brink

Professor

PhD, University of Illinois, 1976

Email: Peter.Brink@stonybrook.edu

Address:
Basic Science Tower, T-5, Room 183S
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY, 11794-8661

Research:

Intercellular Communication: Gap Junctions

The research efforts are focused on the connexins of cardiac myocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. They are all thought to be essential to processes such as developed vaso-motor tone and cardiac arrhythmias. A variety of methods are used to monitor permselectivity and gating of homotypic, heterotypic and heteromeric forms. We are also interested in delineating the integration of exogenously placed stem cells into tissues and role gap junction channels play. To assist us in defining the types of connexins expressed in tissue we use both immuno-staining and Western blotting.Since his initial observations he has characterized the gating of gap junction channels as well as their permselectivity to higher molecular weight substances. Recently he has demonstrated that small interfering RNA, a molecule of 4 kD, can permeate gap junctions and silence expression of target proteins in electrically connected cells. In 2003 he began his research studies on gap junction channels in human mesenchymal stem cells, in collaboration with Drs. Ira Cohen, Mike Rosen and Richard Robinson, where he demonstrated they expressed and trafficked both connexin43 and connexin40 and made gap junctions with cardiac myocytes. He also has been active in studies of stem cell homing and stem cells as the delivery system for creating a biological pacemaker. In 2009 he oversaw a project that used hMSCs to carry pacemaker genes to isolated canine ventricular myocytes demonstrating that the two cell functional syncytium was a biological pacemaker.

  • 2005: Cohen IS, Brink PR, Robinson RB, Rosen MR. The Why, What, How and When of Biological Pacemakers. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine, 2:374-375.
  • 2005: Pan YT, Wu Q, Wang ZG, Brink PR, Cu CW. High-Resolution Imaging Characterization of Bladder Dynamic Morphophysiology by Time-Lapse Optical Coherence Tomography. Optics Letters, 30:2263-2265.
  • 2005: Ramanan SV, Valiunas V, Brink PR. Non-Stationary Fluctuation Analysis of Macroscopic Gap Junction Channel Records. Journal of Membrane Biology, 205:81-88.
  • 2006: Brink PR, Valiunas V, Wang HZ, Zhao W, Davies K, Christ GJ. Experimental Diabetes Alters Connexin43-Derived Gap Junction Permeability in Short-Term Cultures of Rat Corporal Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells. Journal of Urology, 175:381-386.
  • 2006: Robinson RB, Brink PR, Cohen IS, Rosen MR. If and the Biological Pacemaker. Pharmacological Research, 53:407-415.
  • 2006: Wang HZ, Brink PR, Christ GJ. Gap Junction Channel Activity in Short-Term Cultured Human Detrusor Myocyte Cell Pairs: Gating and Unitary Conductance. American Journal of Physiology, 291:C1366-C1376.
  • 2006: Bucchi A, Plotnikov AN, Shlapakova I, Danilo P, Kryukova Y, Qu J, Lu Z, Pan Z, Potapova I, McKnight B, Girouard S, Cohen IS, Brink PR, Robinson RB, Rosen MR. Wild-Type and Mutant HCN Channels in a Tandem Biological-Electronic Cardiac Pacemaker. Circulation, 114:986-988.
  • 2007: Potapova I, Gaudette G, Brink PR, Robinson RB, Rosen MR, Cohen IS, Doronin SV. Mesenchymal Stem Cells Support Migration, Extracellular Matrix Invasion, Proliferation and Survival of Endothelial Cells In Vitro. Stem Cells, 25:2128-2138.
  • 2007: Yum S, Zhang J, Valiunas V, Kanaporis G, Brink PR, White T, Scherer S. Human Connexins26 and Connexin30 Form Functional Heteromeric and Heterotypic Channels. American Journal of Physiology, 293:1032-1048.
  • 2007: Rosen MR, Brink PR, Cohen IS, Robinson RB. Biological Pacemakers Based on If. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 45:157-166.
  • 2007: Rosen AB, Kelly DJ, Schuldt AJ, Lu J, Potapova IA, Doronin SV, Robichaud KJ, Robinson RB, Rosen MR, Brink PR, Gaudette GR, Cohen IS. Tracking Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Labeled with Quantum Dots for Quantitative In Vivo Three-Dimensional Fluorescence Analysis. Stem Cells, 25:2128-2138.
  • 2007: Potapova I, Doronin S, Kelly D, Rosen A, Schuldt A, Lu Z, Guo Y, Kochupura P, Robinson R, Rosen MR, Brink PR, Gaudette GR, Cohen IS. Replacing Damaged Myocardium. Journal of Electrocardiology, 40:S199-S201.
  • 2007: Plotnikov A, Shlapakova L, Szabolcs M, Danilo P, Lorell B, Potapova I, Lu Z, Rosen A, Mathias R, Brink PR, Robinson R, Cohen IS, Rosen M. Xenografted Adult Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Provide a Platform for Sustained Biological Pacemaker Function in Canine Heart. Circulation, 116:706-713.
  • 2008: Potapova I, Brink PR, Cohen IS, Doronin SV. Culturing Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells as 3D-Aggregates Induces Functional Expression of CXCR4 that Regulates Adhesion to Endothelial Cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 283:13100-13107.
  • 2008: Kanaporis G, Mese G, Valiuniene L, White TW, Brink PR, Valiunas V. Gap Junction Channels Exhibit Connexin-Specific Permeability to Cyclic Nucleotides. Journal of General Physiology, 131:293-305.
  • 2008: Mese G, Valiunas V, Brink PR, White TW. Connexin26 Deafness-Associated Mutations Show Altered Permeability to Large Cationic Molecules. American Journal of Physiology, 295:C966-C974.
  • 2008: Potapova IA, Doronin SV, Kelly DJ, Rosen AB, Schuldt AJ, Lu Z, Kochupura PV, Robinson RB, Rosen MR, Brink PR, Gaudette GR, Cohen IS. Enhanced Recovery of Mechanical Function in the Canine Heart by Seeding an Extracellular Matrix Patch with Mesenchymal Stem Cells. American Journal of Physiology, 295:H2257-H2263.
  • 2008: Nguyen L, Rebecchi M, Moore L, Glass P, Brink PR, Liu L. Attenuation of Isoflurane-Induced Preconditioning and Reactive Oxygen Species Production in the Senescent Rat Heart. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 107:776-782.
  • 2008: Rosen MR, Brink PR, Cohen IS, Danilo P Jr., Robinson RB, Rosen AB, Szabolcs MJ. Regenerative Therapies in Electrophysiology and Pacing. Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology, 2:87-98.
  • 2009: Kelly DJ, Rosen AB, Schuldt AJ, Kochupura PV, Doronin SV, Potapova IA, Azeloglu EU, Badylak SF, Brink PR, Cohen IS, Gaudette GR. Increased Myocyte Content and Mechanical Function Within a Tissue-Engineered Myocardial Patch Following Implantation. Tissue Engineering Part A, 15:2189-2201.
  • 2009: DeRosa A, Mese G, Li L, Sellitto C, Brink PR, Gong X, White TW. The Cataract-Causing Cx50-S50P Mutant Inhibits Cx43 and Intercellular Communication in the Lens Epithelium. Experimental Cell Research, 315:1063-1075.
  • 2009: Liu L, Zhu J, Glass PS, Brink PR, Rampil IJ, Rebecchi MJ. Age-Associated Changes in Cardiac Gene Expression After Preconditioning. Anesthesiology, 111:1052-1064.
  • 2009: Bai Y, Mahon RT, White JC, Brink PR, Chon KH. Impairment of Autonomic Nervous Function During Decompression Sickness in Swine. Journal of Applied Physiology, 106:1004-1009.
  • 2009: Valiunas V, Kanaporis G, Valiuniene L, Gordon C, Wang H, Li L, Robinson RB, Rosen MR, Cohen IS, Brink PR. Coupling an HCN2-Expressing Cell to a Myocyte Creates a Two-Cell Pacing Unit. Journal of Physiology, 587:5211-5226.
  • 2010: Zhu J, Rebecchi M, Tan M, Glass P, Brink PR, Liu L. Age-Associated Differences in Activation of AKT/GSK-3β Signaling Pathways in the Rat Heart. Journal of Gerontology, 65:611-619.
  • 2010: Brink PR, Robinson RB, Rosen MR, Cohen IS. In Vivo Cellular Delivery of siRNA. IDrugs, 13(6):383-387.
  • 2011: Brink PR, Valiunas V, Gordon C, Rosen MR, Cohen IS. Can Gap Junctions Deliver? Biochimica et Biophysica Acta.
  • 2011: Kanaporis G, Brink PR, Valiunas V. Gap Junction Permeability: Selectivity for Anionic and Cationic Probes. American Journal of Physiology, 300:C600-C609.
  • 2012: Gao J, Sun X, Moore LC, Brink PR, White TW, Mathias RT. Effect of Size and Species on Lens Intracellular Hydrostatic Pressure. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 54:183-192.
  • 2012: Lu J, Wang HZ, Jia Z, Lu Z, Guo Y, Boink GJ, Brink PR, Robinson RB, Encheva E, Cohen IS. Improving Cardiac Conduction with a Skeletal Muscle Sodium Channel by Gene and Cell Therapy. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 60:88-99.
  • 2013: Singer DD, Singer AJ, Gordon C, Brink PR. Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Injury Progression in a Rat Model. Academic Emergency Medicine, 20:398-402.
  • 2013: Kaufmann J, Gordon C, Bergamaschi R, Wang ZH, Cohen IS, Valiunas V, Brink PR. Effects of the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor 4-Phenylbutyrate on Gap Junction Conductance and Permeability. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 4:111.
  • 2013: Mayan M, Gago-Fuentes R, Carpintero-Fernandez P, Fernandez-Puente P, Filgueira-Fernandez P, Goyanes N, Valiunas V, Brink PR, Goldberg G, Blanco F. Articular Chondrocyte Network Mediated by Gap Junctions. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 74(1):275-284.
  • 2014: Gago-Fuentes R, Carpintero-Fernandez P, Goldring MB, Brink PR, Mayan D, Blanco F. Evidence for Gap Junctions and Cx43 Expression in Human Chondrocytes. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 22:586-590.
  • 2014: Chauveau S, Brink PR, Cohen IS. Stem Cell-Based Biological Pacemakers: From Proof of Principle to Therapy. Cytotherapy, 16:873-880.
  • 2015: Valiunas V, Wang HZ, Li L, Gordon C, Valiuniene L, Cohen IS, Brink PR. Comparison of Two Cellular Delivery Mechanisms for Small Interfering RNA. Physiological Reports, 3(2).