Srinivasa T. Reddy

43-144 CHS (office)
A8-122 CHS (lab)
43-153 CHS (lab)
650 Charles E. Young Drive South; Los Angeles, CA 90095

Positions & Affiliations:

Professor In-Residence, Medicine, Molecular & Medical Pharmacology
and Interdepartmental Program in Molecular Toxicology

Member, California NanoSystems Institute, Molecular Biology Institute, Molecular Pharmacology GPB Home Area, Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology GPB Home Area, Tumor Immunology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC)

Faculty, Cardiology

Research Description:

I am interested in understanding the expression, regulation, and mechanism of action, of enzymes involved in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, and their role in the development of inflammatory diseases with focus on discovering diagnostic and therapeutic molecules for their treatment. I have listed below the current ongoing projects in my laboratory. 1. The role of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) in the resolution of inflammation in IBD: Our laboratory was the first to report that COX2 plays an anti-inflammatory role in the mouse intestine and established a novel mouse model of Crohn’s disease. 2. The role of Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) in ischemia/reperfusion injury, heart failure, and obesity. My laboratory is conducting pioneering research on PON proteins. We demonstrated that PON1 an HDL-associated enzyme and its cellular counterparts (PON2 and PON3) participate in the inactivation of inflammatory responses initiated by oxidized lipids. 3. Development of apoA-I mimetic peptides for the treatment of inflammatory diseases: Over the last fifteen years, based on our work on oxidized lipids and HDL, together with several colleagues at UCLA and other institutions, we developed a novel class of anti-inflammatory peptides. These agents called apoA-I mimetic peptides show promise for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. More recently, we developed a novel therapeutic strategy by generating transgenic tomatoes expressing apoA-I mimetic peptide and are gearing up to test these peptides in the clinic.