George J. Osol, PhD, FAPS

Education:

Doctoral Studies
University of Vermont
Postdoctoral Study
Tufts University School of Medicine
Boston, MA

Training:

Residency

Fellowship

Specialty:

Certifications:

Academic Appointments:

Biography:

Dr. Osol is Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Vermont, with joint faculty appointments in the Departments of Pharmacology and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.  He has been a member of the UVM faculty since 1988 and is a member of a number of professional societies, including the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Perinatal Research Society, and Sigma Xi.  Dr. Osol was recently (2002) inducted as a Fellow into the American Physiological Society.   He lectures in a number of courses to undergraduate, graduate, medical and postgraduate (residents, fellows) students.  Dr. Osol served as the President of the Vermont Affiliate of the American Heart Association, has Chaired the AHA New England Peer Review Consortium and Research Committee, and served as a member of the AHA Board of Directors for the New England Affiliate.  He has also served in an advisory capacity on a number of committees and task forces and has been a member of the Editorial Boards of several journals.  Dr. Osol has organized several international scientific symposia, most recently, the Myogenic Centennial  Conference, held in Stowe, VT in June of 2002.  Last year, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Vermont College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Major Research Interests:

Developed and validated a video-electronic system for studying small blood vessels in vitro.   Using this system, developed in conjunction with Dr. William Halpern (Professor Emeritus) arterial segments the size of a human hair can be attached to glass microcannulas, and pressurized and perfused under controlled conditions by using electronic servo controls and video image analysis hardware.  This approach has facilitated study of endothelial and smooth muscle interactions in resistance vessels that are important in the regulation of systemic blood pressure and organ blood flow, and is currently used in more than one hundred laboratories all over the world. 

Current studies in Dr. Osol’s laboratory are focused on understanding: (1) The cellular and molecular mechanisms by which arterial reactivity and structure are altered during pregnancy, (2)  How physical forces such as pressure are transduced into constriction by vascular smooth muscle, and (3)  The nature of communication between veins and arteries (venoarterial exchange) in governing arterial tone and structure.  The latter project is focused on permeability and pathways of signal transfer across the venous wall.   

Recent Grant Support (Osol, P.I.)

Grant Title: Venoarterial Exchange in the Uterine Circulation
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Status: Active

Grant Title: Mechanotransduction by Vascular Smooth Muscle
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Status: Active

Grant Title: Resistance Artery Adaptation in Hypertensive Pregnancy
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Status: Pending

Publications:

Representative Publications from a Total of 73

Osol, G., Laher, 1. and Kelley, M. (1993) Myogenic tone is coupled to phospholipase C and G protein activation in small, CC pressurized rat cerebral arteries.  Am.  J. Physiol. 265: H415-420.

D'Angelo, G. and Osol, G. (1994) Modulation of uterine resistance artery lumen diameter by calcium and G protein activation during pregnancy.  Am.  J. Physiol. 267:H952-H961.

Meyer, M.,Cummings, K. and Osol, G. (1997) Estrogen replacement attenuates resistance artery adrenergic sensitivity via endothelial vasodilators.  Am.  J. Physiol. 272: H2264-2270, 1997.

Ni, Y., May V., Brass K. and Osol G. (1997) Pregnancy augments vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression and vasodilator effects in rat uterine arteries.  Am.  J. Physiol. 273: H938-944, 1997.

Meyer, M., Osol, G., and McLaughlin, M. K. (1997) Flow decreases myogenic reactivity of mesenteric arteries from pregnant rats.  Soc.  Gyn.  Invest. 4:293-297.

Bemstein, I. M., Meyer, M.C., Osol, G., and Ward, K. (1998) Intolerance to volume expansion: a  theorized mechanism for the development of preeclampsia.  Obstet.  Gynecol. 92:306-308.

Gokina, N.I., Knot, H.J., Nelson, M.T. and Osol, G (1999) Increased calcium sensitivity as a key mechanism of PKC-induced constriction in pressurized cerebral arteries. Am. J. Physiol. 277:H1178-H1188.

Babu GJ, Loukianov E, Loiukianova T, Pyne GJ, Huke S, Osol G, Low RB, Paul RJ and Periasamy M. (2001) Loss of SM-B myosing affects muscle shortening velocity and maximal force development.  Nature 3:1025-1029

Dixon ME, Chien EK, Osol G, Calles PW and Bonney EA.  (2006)  Failure of decidual arteriolar remodeling in the CBA/J x DBA/2 murine model of recurrent pregnancy loss islinked to increased expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2).  Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 194:113-119.

Cooper BC, Gokina NI, and Osol G.  (2007)  Testosterone replacement increases vasodilatory reserve in androgen-deficient female rats.  Fertil. Steril. 87:422-425.