Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Yiru Guo, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine

Tel.: (502) 852-5669

E-mail: yrguo@louisville.edu

Dr. Guo directs the Murine Physiology Core in the Institute of Molecular Cardiology of the University of Louisville – a state-of-the-art laboratory that performs the most advanced and technically challenging operations in murine models of disease and that serves as the supporting  core facility for almost 20 NIH grants. He has developed the first mouse model of early and late phase of ischemic preconditioning with Dr. Bolli's full support. This model represents a major advance and will be very useful for elucidating the cellular mechanisms of myocardial protection by making it possible to apply molecular biology techniques to intact animal preparations to dissect the precise roles of individual proteins. Using this reliable and physiologically-relevant mouse model, Dr. Guo has identified a specific protein, iNOS, that is responsible for the cardioprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning, one of the most powerful cardioprotective phenomenon discovered thus far. Dr. Guo possesses extensive expertise in the area of cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery, physiology, and pharmacology. His research focuses on: (i) elucidating the mechanisms of ischemic- pharmacologic- and exercise-induced preconditioning by using the ischemia/reperfusion model in genetically engineered animals, (ii) studying protection of ischemic myocardium by using gene and/or cell therapy, and (iii) elucidating adaptations to ischemia/reperfusion injury in the aging heart. Dr. Guo has published more than 44 peer-reviewed papers, 3 book chapters, and 80 abstracts since 1997. Dr. Guo is currently supported by 7 NIH grants including one where he serves as PI.  

Selected Recent Publications:

1.    Guo Y, Wu WJ, Qiu Y, Tang XL, Yang Z and Bolli R. Demonstration of an early and a late phase of ischemic preconditioning in mice. Am J Physiol. 1998 Oct;275(4 Pt 2):H1375-87.

2.    Guo Y, Jones WK, Xuan Y, Tang XL, Bao W, Wu WJ, Han H, Laubach VE, Ping P, Yang Z, Qiu Y and Bolli R. The late phase of ischemic preconditioning is abrogated by targeted disruption of the inducible NO synthase gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Sep 28;96(20):11507-11512.

3.    Guo Y, Bao W, Wu JW, Shinmura K, Tang XL, Bolli R. Evidence for an essential role of cyclooxygenase-2 as a mediator of the late phase of ischemic preconditioning in mice. Basic Res Cardiol. 2000, Dec;95(6):479-484.

4.    Guo Y, Bolli R, Bao W, Wu WJ, Black RG Jr, Murphree SS, Salvatore CA, Jacobson MA, Auchampach JA. Targeted deletion of the A3 adenosine receptor confers resistance to myocardial ischemic injury and does not prevent early preconditioning. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2001 Apr;33(4):825-830.

5.    Li Q, Guo Y, Xuan YT, Lowenstein JC, Stevenson CS, Prabhu DS, Wu WJ, Zhu Y, Roberto Bolli. Gene Therapy with Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Protects against Myocardial Infarction via a Cyclooxygenase-2-dependent Mechanism. Circ Res. 2003 Apr 18;92(7):741-8.

6.    upregulation in late preconditioning. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2003 May;35(5):525-37.

7.    Guo Y, Stein AB, Wu WJ, Tan W, Zhu X, Li QH, Dawn B, Motterlini R, Bolli R. Administration of a CO-releasing molecule at the time of reperfusion reduces infarct size in vivo. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2004 May;286(5):H1649-53. Epub 2004 Jan 2.

8.    Dawn B, Guo Y, Rezazadeh A, Wang OL, Stein AB, Hunt G, Varma J, Xuan YT, Wu WJ, Tan W, Zhu X, Bolli R. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha does not modulate ischemia/reperfusion injury in naive myocardium but is essential for the development of late preconditioning. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2004Jul;37(1):51-61.

9.    Stein AB*, Guo Y*, Tan W, Wu WJ, Zhu X, Li Q, Luo C, Dawn B, Johnson TR, Motterlini R, Bolli R. Administration of a CO-releasing molecule induces late preconditioning against myocardial infarction. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2005 Jan;38(1):127-34. Epub 2004 Dec 8. (*Denotes equal first authors).

10.    Guo Y, Stein AB, Wu WJ, Zhu X, Tan W, Li Q, Bolli R. Late preconditioning induced by NO donors, adenosine A₁ receptor agonists, and δ₁-opioid receptor agonists is mediated by iNOS. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2005 Nov;289(5):H2251-7. Epub 2005 Jul 8.

11.    Li Q, Guo Y, Tan W, Stein AB, Dawn B, Wu WJ, Zhu X, Lu X, Xu X, Siddiqui T, Tiwari S, Bolli R. Gene therapy with iNOS provides long-term protection against myocardial infarction without adverse functional consequences. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006 Feb;290(2):H584-9. Epub 2005 Sep 19.

12.    Dawn B, Guo Y, Rezazadeh A, Huang Y, Stein AB, Hunt G, Tiwari S, Varma J, Gu Y, Prabhu SD, Kajstura J, Anversa P, Ildstad ST, Bolli R.  Postinfarct Cytokine Therapy Regenerates Cardiac Tissue and Improves Left Ventricular Function. Circ Res. 2006  Apr 28;98(8):1098-105. Epub 2006 Mar 23.

13.    Li Q, Guo Y, Tan W, Ou Q, Wu WJ, Sturza D, Dawn B, Hunt G, Cui C, Bolli R. Cardioprotection Afforded by Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Gene Therapy Is Mediated by Cyclooxygenase-2 via a Nuclear Factor-{kappa}B Dependent Pathway. Circulation. 2007 Oct 2;116(14):1577-84. Epub 2007 Sep 4.

14.    Guo Y, Li Q, Wu W, Tan W, Zhu X, Mu J, Bolli R. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase is not necessary for the early phase of ischemic preconditioning in the mouse. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2008 Mar;44(3):496-501. Epub 2008 Jan 17.

15.    Flaherty MP*, Guo Y*, Tiwari S, Rezazadeh A, Hunt G, Sanganalmath SK, Tang XL, Bolli R, Dawn B. The role of TNF-alpha receptors p55 and p75 in acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and late preconditioning. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2008 Dec;45(6):735-41. Epub 2008 Sep 12.

(*Denotes equal first authors).