Gerald A. Meininger, PhD

Gerald A. Meininger, PhD

Medical Pharmacology and Physiology

Professor Emeritus

Academic Information

Professor Emeritus

Research Interests

  • Vascular physiology and cell biology with an emphasis the microvasculature

Areas of Expertise

  • Cell adhesion, extracellular matrix and cell signaling in the vascular wall
  • Mechanotransduction in vascular cells
  • Regulation of vascular and cardiac responses to tissue injury by extracellular matrix derived signals
  • Cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for mechanotransduction
  • Mechanisms of vascular remodeling
  • Mechanisms responsible for the myogenic properties of vascular smooth muscle
  • Application of fluorescence microscopy and 3D-image analysis for studies of microvascular cell biology and the cyto-architecture and function of the microvessel wall
  • Mechanisms of blood flow autoregulation.

Education & Training

Fellowship

Texas A&M University Health Science Center

Post-Graduate School

PhD, University of Missouri and MS, Central Michigan University.

Awards & Honors

Extramural Grant Review

American Heart Association, National
  • Co-Chair, Cardiovascular Regulation Review Committee II, American Heart Association - National, 2000-2001.
  • Member, Cardiovascular Regulation Review Committee II, American Heart Association - National, 1996-2001.
  • Member, Cardiovascular Regulation Review Committee I, American Heart Association - National, 2001-2004.
  • Member, Vascular Wall Biology 2 Review Committee, American Heart Association - National, April and October, 2004-2005.
  • Co-Chair, Vascular Wall Biology 2 Review Committee, American Heart Association - National, April and October, 2006.
  • Chair, Vascular Wall Biology 2 Review Committee, American Heart Association - National, April and October, 2007, 2008.
American Heart Association, Western Review Consortium
  • Chair for Study Group A of the Central Research Review Committee for the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate, November 1993-1994.
  • Vice Chair for Study Group A of the Central Research Review Committee for the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate, November 1991-1993.
  • Member Research Allocations and Advisory Committee for the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate, 1991-1995
  • Member Central Research Review Committee for the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate, 1989-1995.
National Institutes of Health
  • Grant reviewer for Research Resource Center Grant (P41) Special emphasis panel/scientific review group for the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), National Institutes of Health, December 2009.
  • Grant reviewer for NHLBI Proteomic Centers for heart, lung and blood diseases. National Institutes of Health, September 2009.
  • Grant reviewer for Research Resource Center Grant (P41) Site visit review team for the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), National Institutes of Health, March 2009.
  • Grant reviewer for Shared Instrumentation Program (S10) Study Section panel of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), National Institutes of Health, October 2008.
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for Modeling and Analysis of Biological Systems (MABS) Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, January 2008.
  • Member of Special Emphasis Panel for review of R13 Conference Grant Applications, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, March 2007.
  • Member of Shared Instrumentation Microscopy (S10) Study Section panel, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, September 2004-2006.
  • Member of Reparative Medicine -Tissue Engineering (MOSS G 01) Study Section panel, Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, July 2004-2006.
  • Temporary member of Reparative Medicine -Tissue Engineering Study Section (SSS-M), Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, June 2003.
  • Temporary member of Experimental Cardiovascular Sciences Study Section, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, March 1996-2004.
  • Program Project Grant review team for National Institutes of Health, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Cardiovascular and Renal Study Section, May 1992; April 1998; December 2000; October 2005; April 2006.
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for National Institutes of Health, Experimental Cardiovascular Sciences Study Section, June 1993.
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for National Institutes of Health, Metabolism Study Section, February 1993.
National Science Foundation
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for the National Science Foundation, Washington D.C., Physiological Processes Program, 1991, 1998.
Veterans Administration
  • Proposal review of Merit Award for Research and Development Committee of Miami VA Medical Center, May 1992.
NASA
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for NASA's Biomedical Research Program through the American Institute of Biological Sciences, October 1988.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
  • Grant reviewer for United Kingdom, BBSRC's Technology Development Initiative Committee, March 2006.
Canada Foundation for Innovation
  • Grant review for Innovation fund of Canada Foundation for Innovation, July 2001.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Grant reviewer (ad hoc) for CIHR, July 2008.
Thomas F. & Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust
  • Grant reviewer for a Jeffress Research Grant through the Thomas F. & Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, administered by Sovran Bank, N. A., Virginia Academy of Science, and the Medical Society of Virginia, March 1989; September 1994.
Croucher Foundation
  • Proposal reviewer for a Croucher Foundation Award, February 2008.

National Committees

American Heart Association
  • Abstract Reviewer and Grader, 1994-95, 1998-99, 2001-04.
  • Member American Heart Association Steering Committee, Unified Peer Review Panel representing the Midwest Programs, July 2009-June 2011.
American Physiological SocietyK
  • APS: Conference Committee, Chair, 2011-2013.
  • APS: SAC/Nominating Committee: CVS Representative, 2003-2004; 2007-2010.
  • APS: Strategic Planning Meeting, December 2005.
  • APS: Committee on Committees: Member, 2001-2003.
  • APS: AJP (Heart Circulatory Physiology) Associate Editor 1993-1999; 2007-2010.
Section Activity
  • Cardiovascular Section: Past Chair: 2010-2013.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Chair: 2007-2010.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Secretary/Treasurer, 2003-2006; 2006-2007 (elected Chair 2007).
  • Cardiovascular Section: Liaison Committee: Ad Hoc Member, 2004-2007.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Program Committee, 1999 to 2000.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Steering Committee: Member, 1999 to 2013.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Nominating Committee: Member, 1998-1999; Chair, 1999-2001.
  • Cardiovascular Section: Banquet Committee: Chair, 2010-2013.
European Society for Microcirculation
  • Ad hoc Publication Award Committee, 2000 – 2005.
International Union of Physiological Sciences
  • Ad hoc Publication Award Committee, 2000 – 2005.
  • Member, US National Committee to the International Union of Physiological Sciences, 2006-present.
  • Chair, Microcirculation Section of the IUPS Commission II (Circulation/Respiration), 2007-2009.
Microcirculatory Society
  • Past-President, 1996-1997.
  • President, 1995-1996.
  • President-Elect, 1994-1995.
  • Long Range Planning Committee: Chairman, 1996-1997, Member 1997-2007.
  • Liaison Committee: Chairman, 1995-1996. Member, 2006-2009, 2010-2013.
  • Development Committee: Member, 1989-1991; Chairman, 1991-1994
  • Executive Council: Member, 1990-1993.
  • Nominating Committee: Member, 1986-1987; Chairman, 1987-1989.

External Consulting

  • Invited external examiner and graduate student committee member for Dr. John Imig student of Professor Gary Anderson, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, KY, 1988-1990.
  • Invited external examiner and graduate student committee member for Dr. Pei-Pei Ping student of Professor Paul Johnson, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, 1990.
  • Invited external examiner and graduate student committee member for Yanlin Wang, Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 1997-1999.
  • External Review Team Member for Academic Program Review of the Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, January 30-31, 2003.
  • External examiner for Ph.D. candidate Nathalie Gaudreault, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2004.
  • External evaluator of candidates for Associate Professor for Physiology of Microcirculation for Search Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig Maximilians Universitat, Muenchen, Germany, 2005.
  • Chair, Internal Advisory Committee, for NIH PPG, PI. Harold Laughlin and Doug Bowles, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 2010.
  • Invited external examiner and graduate student committee member for Calvin Chu student of Professor Vincent Moy, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami, FL, 2010-present.

Scientific Journals

Editorships
  • Editor-in-Chief for Frontiers in Vascular Physiology, January 2010-present.
  • Co-Editor (US) for Journal of Vascular Research, August 1999-Present.
  • Consulting Editor for American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, May 2007-January 2010.
  • Associate Editor for American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, January 1993-January 1999.
  • Editorial Board Member for Frontiers in Cardiovascular and Smooth Muscle Pharmacology, 2010-present.
  • Editorial Board Member for International Journal of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology, 2010-present.
  • Editorial Board Member for Nanotechnology, Science and Applications, 2007-present.
  • Editorial Board Member for Microcirculation, 1993-1999; 2003-2009; 2010-2015.
  • Editorial board member for Journal of Vascular Research, 1998-1999.
  • Editorial Board Member for Microvascular Research, 1992-1999.
  • Editorial Board Member for Hypertension, 1990-1994.
  • Editorial Board Member for American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circ. Physiol., 1986-1993.
  • Editorial Board Member for Microcirculation, Endothelium and Lymphatics, 1988-1992.
Reviewer
  • American Journal of Physiology: (Heart and Circ. Physiology)
  • American Journal of Physiology: (Regulatory, Integ. and Comp. Physiology)
  • American Journal of Physiology: (Renal, Fluid and Elec. Physiology)
  • American Journal of Physiology: (Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology)
  • American Journal of Physiology: (Cell Physiology)
  • Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis and Vascular Biology
  • Biology of Reproduction
  • British Journal of Pharmacology
  • Circulation Research
  • Diabetologia
  • European Journal of Physiology
  • European Journal of Pharmacology
  • Experimental Cell Research
  • Hypertension
  • Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
  • Journal of Cell Biology
  • Journal of Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology
  • Journal of Applied Physiology
  • Journal of Cardiovascular Research
  • Journal of Diabetes and its Complications
  • Journal of Experimental Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Journal of Vascular Research
  • Life Science
  • Microvascular Research
  • Nature Methods
  • Nature Nanotechnology

Publications

  • Huang S., Z. Sun, Z. Li and G.A. Meininger. Modulation of microvascular smooth muscle adhesion and mechanotransduction by integrin-linked kinase. Microcirculation, 17:113-127, 2010. PMID: 20163538
  • Trache, A., J.P. Trzeciakowski, G.A. Meininger. Mg2+ modulates integrin-extracellular matrix interactions in vascular smooth muscle as studied by atomic force microscopy. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 23:316-321, 2010. PMID: 20049771
  • Wu X., Z. Sun, A. Foskett, J.P. Trzeciakowski, G.A. Meininger, M. Muthuchamy. Cardiomyocyte contractile status is associated with differences in fibronection and integrin interactions. American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circulatory Physiology), 298:H2071-H2081, 2010. {Shared senior authorship} PMID: 20382852
  • Meininger, G.A. Grand challenges in vascular physiology. Frontiers in Physiology: Frontiers in Vascular Physiology, 1:18, 2010.
  • Hongyu Qiu, Yi Zhu, Dorothy E. Vatner, Meredith Gansner, Athanasios P. Peppas, Christophe Depre, Ranillo R.G. Resuello, Filipinas F. Natividad, William C. Hunter, Guy M. Genin, Elliot L. Elson, Zhe Sun, Jerome P. Trzeciakowski, Gerald A. Meininger, Stephen F. Vatner. Vascular Smooth Muscle Stiffness as a Mechanism for Increased Aortic Stiffness with Aging. Circulation Research, 107:615-619, 2010. (Shared Senior Authorship, Co-Corresponding Authors). PMID: 20634486
  • Martinez-Lemus L.A., M.A. Hill, G.A. Meininger. The plastic nature of the vascular wall: Reply to Bjorn Folkow. Letters to the Editor. Physiology, 24:266-277, 2010.
  • Ella S.R., Y. Yang, P.S. Clifford, J. Gulia, K.A. Dora, G.A. Meininger, M.J. Davis, and M.A. Hill. Development of an Image – Based System for Measurement of Membrane Potential, Intracellular Ca2+ and contraction in Arteriolar Smooth Muscle Cells. Microcirculation, 17(8):629-640, 2010. PMID: 21044217
  • Cheng, Qi, Z. Sun, G.A. Meininger, M. Almasri. Mechanical study of micromachined polydimethylsiloxane elastic microposts. Review of Scientific Instruments, 81(10):106104-1-106104-3, 2010. PMID: 21034132
  • Jackson-Hayes, T., Z. Sun, L.A. Martinez-Lemus, M.A. Hill and G.A. Meininger. N-Cadherin and Iintegrin blockade inhibit arteriolar myogenic reactivity but not pressure-induced increases in intracellular Ca2+. Frontiers in Physiology: Frontiers in Vascular Physiology, 1:1-8, 2010. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2010.00165
  • Wu, X, S. Chakraborty, C.L. Heaps, M.J. Davis, G.A. Meininger and M. Muthuchamy. Fibronectin increases the force production on mouse papillary muscles via a5b1 integrin. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 50:203-213, 2011. PMID: 20937283
  • Clark, C.G., Z. Sun, G.A. Meininger and J.T. Potts. Nicotine-induced desensitization of α7-containing nicotine acetylcholine receptors on NK1 receptor expressing medullary respiratory neurons. (Submitted to Journal of Neurophysiology), 2011.
  • Sun, Z., A. Juriani, K.E. Meissner, and G.A. Meininger. Partnering atomic force microscopy with quantum dot enabled probes for FRET to study integrin-extracellular matrix interactions. Submitted to Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, 2011.
  • Clifford, P.S., S. Ella, A. Stupica, Z. Nourian, L.A. Martinez-Lemus, K. Dora, Y. Yang, M.J. Davis, G.A. Meininger and M.A. Hill. Adventitial elastin fibers longitudinally constrain smooth muscle cells In small arteries of skeletal muscle but not from cerebral circulation. Submitted to Circulation Research, 2011. {Shared senior authorship, Co-Corresponding Authors}
  • Huang S., Z. Sun, Z. Li and G.A. Meininger. A role for zyxin in the vascular smooth response to mechanical force. (In preparation for Microcirculation), 2011.
  • Reeves, K.J., Z. Sun, G.A. Meininger and N.J. Brown. Selective measurement and manipulation of adhesion forces between cancer cells and bone marrow endothelial cells using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). (In preparation for Microcirculation), 2011.