Research

Research Interests

My postdoctoral researched looked at the mechanical and physiological drivers of preterm birth. I focused on the effects of S-nitrosation in the human myometrium and specifically the role of gap junction proteins (Cx43) in S-nitrosation mediated tissue relaxation. Cx43 post translational modifications help regulate protein localization, degradation and the potential formation of gap junctions. Protein phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of Cx43 can occur on 18 serine/threonine sites and two tyrosine sites. Additionally, modification of cysteine residues by nitric oxide (nitrosation) is part of the cGMP independent tissue response to NO exposure and modification of Cx43 at cysteine 271 and the E1 and E2 loops may function to increase relaxation of myometrial tissue. It is currently unknown how this modification affects protein binding and/or function.

Publications

Abstracts:

  1. Stretch Induced Phosphoproteomic Signaling in Pregnant Human Myometrial Cells, Christian Copley Salem, Craig Ulrich, David Quilici, Iain L.O. Buxton and Heather Burkin, Society for Reproductive Investigation 63rd Annual Meeting, 2014.
  2. mTOR Signaling is Activated in Response to Myometrial Stretch – Implications for Preterm Labor, Craig Ulrich, Christian Copley Salem, Kyle Von Schimmelman, Iain L.O. Buxton, Heather Burkin, Society for Reproductive Investigation 64th Annual Meeting, 2015.
  3. Stretch-Induced Phosphoproteomic Signaling Networks in Pregnant Human Myometrial Cells Highlight the Importance of the Integrin Signaling Pathway, Craig Ulrich, Christian Copley Salem, David Quilici, Karen Schlauch, Iain L.O. Buxton, Heather Burkin. Society for the Study of Reproduction 48th Annual Meeting, 2016.
  4. Isobaric TMT 10-plex Labeled MultiNotch MS3 Analysis of Human Uterine Smooth Muscle in Disparate States of Pregnancy, Christian Copley Salem, Craig Ulrich, David Quilici, Rebekah Woosley, Iain L.O. Buxton, Heather Burkin, American Society for Mass Spectrometry 64th Annual Meeting, 2016.
  5. Isobaric TMT 10-plex Labeled MultiNotch MS3 Analysis of Biological and Technical Variance in Human Uterine Smooth Muscle Tissue, Craig Ulrich, Christian Copley Salem, David Quilici, Rebekah Woosley, Iain L.O. Buxton, Heather Burkin, Karen Schlauch, American Society for Mass Spectrometry 65th Annual Meeting, 2017.
  6. MMP2 and MMP9 Expression and Influence on Contraction in Pregnant Human Myometrium. Craig Ulrich, Carolina Wandscheer, Christian Copley Salem, Veronica Arinze, Jenny Wong, Iain L.O. Buxton, Heather Burkin, Society for the Study of Reproduction 49th Annual Meeting, 2017.
  7. Targeted Single Precursor Selection Analysis of Phospho-Proteomic Changes in Strained Human Uterine Smooth Muscle. Craig Ulrich, Christian Copley Salem, Dave Quilici, Rebekah Woolsey, Karen Schlauch, Heather Burkin, American Society for Mass Spectrometry 66th Annual Meeting, 2018.

 

Papers:

  1. Copley Salem, C., Ulrich, C., Quilici, D., Schlauch, K., Buxton, I.L.O., Burkin, H., 2018. Mechanical strain induced phospho-proteomic signaling in uterine smooth muscle cells. J. Biomech, doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.03.04, PMID:
  2. Ulrich, C.C., Arinze, V., Wandscheer, C.B., Copley Salem, C., Nabati, C., Etezadi-Amoli, N., Burkin, H.R., 2019. Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 are elevated in human preterm laboring uterine myometrium and exacerbate uterine contractility†. Biol. Reprod. 100, 1597–1604. doi:10.1093/biolre/ioz054

Awards

Source of Support:

Nevada IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellences (INBRE)

Title:

NV INBRE Service Award for the Mick Hitchcock Ph.D. Nevada Proteomics Center

Description of Project:

Our preliminary phospho-proteomic analysis of cultured uterine myometrial cells identified phosphorylation of proteins representative of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK pathway activation in response to mechanical stretch. The goal of this project is to determine how mechanical stretch affects signal transduction pathways in human uterine myometrium and contributes to development of a contractile phenotype by comparing uterine smooth muscle from twin pregnancies and singleton pregnancies of similar gestational age. We hypothesize the ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK pathways have increased activation in human twin pregnancies and contribute to the increased preterm birth risk.