Rate My Professor Zhenheng Guo

Zhenheng Guo, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from Hunan Medical University in Changsha, China, in 1986, and his PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Virginia in 1999. He completed postdoctoral training in Physiology at the University of Kentucky in 2004. Dr. Guo serves as Core Faculty in the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, Graduate Faculty in Nutritional Sciences, and Primary Faculty in Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences. His research employs genetically-modified mice combined with molecular, cellular, and biochemical approaches to investigate transcriptional regulation and signal transduction in vascular smooth muscle cells, organ cultures, and animal models. This work elucidates mechanisms underlying cardiovascular physiology and diseases, including hypertension, diabetes vascular complications, restenosis, and abdominal aortic aneurysm, with the long-term goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets.

Dr. Guo's contributions include pivotal publications such as 'Smooth muscle-specific expression of calcium-independent phospholipase A2β (iPLA2β) participates in the initiation and early progression of vascular inflammation and neointima formation' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2012), 'Role of Calcium-independent Phospholipase A2β in High Glucose-induced Activation of RhoA, Rho-kinase, and CPI-17 in Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Vascular Smooth Muscle Hypercontractility in Diabetic Animals' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2010), 'Group VIA phospholipase A2 (iPLA2β) participates in angiotensin II-induced transcriptional upregulation of RGS2 in vascular smooth muscle cells' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2007), and 'Ca²⁺-independent Phospholipase A2 Is Required for Agonist-induced Ca²⁺ Sensitization of Contraction in Vascular Smooth Muscle' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2003). Current projects examine the roles of smooth muscle iPLA2β in angiotensin II-induced RGS2 regulation, diabetes-associated vascular hypercontractility, vascular inflammation, mineralocorticoid receptor in salt-induced aneurysms, and BMAL1 in blood pressure circadian rhythm. He received the Alan T. Hirsch Mid-Career Award in Vascular Medicine in 2016. Recent studies address circadian variations in vasoconstriction, time-restricted eating effects on hypertension, and sex-specific differences in aortic aneurysms.