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School of Medicine

Dr Clare Austin BSc, PhD, PGCE

Senior lecturer

Cardiovascular Research Group
School of Biomedicine
Core Technology Facility (3rd Floor)
University of Manchester
46 Grafton Street
Manchester
M13 9NT

 

Role

  • Senior Lecturer, Cardiovascular Resarch group, School of Biomedicine
  • Postgraduate Director, School of Biomedicine
  • Programme Director, BHF 4 year PhD Programme
  • Programme Director, MRes Cardiovascular Sciences
 

Research

Cardiovascular disorders are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. Although the underlying mechanisms responsible for the development and progression of these disorders is likely to be multiple, changes in the structure and function of resistance arteries is believed to be of prime importance. Research in CAs group focuses on elucidating how these may be changed in both health and disease.

It is well established that responses of small arteries to changes in intravascular pressure, so called myogenic responsiveness, play an extremely important role in autoregulation of blood flow. However, arteries embedded in contracting muscle (e.g. coronary, uterine) also experience signifincat changes in extravascular pressure due to contraction of the muscle itself.  Clares group is the first to directly investigate the effect of this on arterial responsiveness. The influence of pregnacy, diabetes and/or coronary artery disease on responses is also studied.

Caveolae are small membraneous invaginations which are pressent in a variety of cell types. Although they are believed to play an important role in a number of cellular processes many of their effects are poorly understood. Other projects in the laboratory focus on elucidating effects of caveolae ablation on arterial contractility.

Further collaborative projects focus on elucidation of the role of PMCAs in the resistance vasculature.

 

Methodological Knowledge

Techniques used include pressure and wire myography to allow investigation of the contractility of resistance arteries (<150 um diameter). This may be coupled with techniques allowing meaurement of both global and sub-cellular calcium homeostasis thus allowing more mechanistic investigation. Biochemical techniques are used to supplement functional studies.

 

Teaching

  • Programme Director and lecturer, BHF 4 year PhD Programme
  • Programme Director, lecturer and module leader MRes Cardiovascular Sciences
  • Supervisor and advisor to a number of PhD and MD students.
  • Teaches on the Graduate Training Programme 
  • Portfolio tutor - phase 1 undergraduate medical students 
 

Biography

Clare obtained a BSc (Hons) (1993) and PhD in Pharmacology (1990) from the University of Liverpool. Following this she took up a position as a post-doctoral research assistant in the Department of Physiology and obtained a British Heart Foundation Fellowship in 1994. She took up a position as a Lecturer in Medicine in 1995 before being promoted to Senior Lecturer.

 

Qualifications

  • BSc Pharmacology - University of Liverpool
  • PhD Pharmacology - Univerity of Liverpool
  • PGCE Teaching and Learning in Higher Education - University of Manchester 
 

Collaborators and affiliated staff

Current collaborators include:

  • Prof. M. Taggart
  • Prof. L. Neyses
  • Dr E. Cartwright
  • Dr. C. Holt
 

Publications

2011

  • Banerjee M, Anderson SG, Malik RA, Austin CE*, Cruickshank JK* (*equal last authors). (2011). Small artery function 2 years postpartum in women with altered glycaemic distributions in their preceding pregnancy. Clinical Science, 122(2), 53-61. eScholarID:127539
  • Cartwright EJ, Oceandy D, Austin C, Neyses L. (2011). Ca(2+) signalling in cardiovascular disease: the role of the plasma membrane calcium pumps. Sci China Life Sci, 54(8), 691-698. eScholarID:128078 | DOI:10.1007/s11427-011-4199-1
  • Hausman N, Martin J, Taggart MJ, Austin C. (2011). Age-related changes in the contractile and passive arterial properties of murine mesenteric small arteries are altered by caveolin-1 knockout. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, epubahead of print, eScholarID:133006 | DOI:10.1111/j.1582-4934.2011.01457.x
  • Lynch, F. M., Izzard, A., Austin, C., Prendergast, B., Keenan, D., Malik, R. A., Heagerty, A.M. (2011). Effects of diabetes and hypertension on structure and distensibility of human small coronary arteries. Journal of Hypertension (accepted for publication), eScholarID:133533 | DOI:10.1097/HJH.0b013e32834e38a0
  • Rossoni LV, Wareing M, Wenceslau C, Al-Abri M, Cobb C, Austin CE. (2011). Acute simvastatin increases endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation via AMP-activated protein kinase and reduces contractility of isolated rat mesenteric resistance arteries. Clinical Science, 121(10), 448-458. eScholarID:127538

2009

  • Austin C. (2009). Commentaries on viewpoint: pick your Poiseuille: normalizing the shear stimulus in studies of flow-mediated dilation. Journal of Applied Physiology, 107(4), 1361. eScholarID:127550
  • Withers SB, Taggart MJ, Baker P, Austin C. (2009). Responses of isolated pressurised rat uterine arteries to changes in pressure: effects of pre-constriction, endothelium and pregnancy. Placenta, 30, 529-535. eScholarID:127540 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2009.03.011
  • Withers SB, Taggart MJ, Baker PN, Austin CE. (2009). Responses of isolated pressurised rat uterine arteries to changes in pressure: effects of pre-constriction, endothelium and pregnancy. Placenta, 30( 6), eScholarID:1d20809 | DOI:10.1016/j.placenta.2009.03.011

2008

  • Austin CE, Braidman IP. (2008). Support for portfolio in the initial years of the undergraduate medical school curriculum; what do the tutors think? Medical Teacher, 30(3), eScholarID:1d28011

2007

  • Azzawi M, Austin CE. (2007). The effects of endothelial factor inhibition on the time-course of responses of isolated rat coronary arteries to intraluminal flow. Journal of Vascular Research, 44, 223-233. eScholarID:1d27560 | DOI:10.1159/000100421
  • Wilkinson J, Foretia D, Rossington S, Heagerty A, Leonard J, Hussain N, Austin CE. (2007). 2'-hydroxy-fendiline analogues as potent relaxers of isolated arteries. Eur J Pharmacol, 561( 1-3), eScholarID:1d20924 | DOI:10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.01.039

2006

  • Azzawi M, Austin CE. (2006). Extravascular pressure modulates responses of isolated rat coronary arteries to vasodilator, but not vasoconstrictor, stimuli. American Journal of Physiology, 290, 1151-1156. eScholarID:1d11626 | DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00307.2005
  • Heerkens EH, Shaw LM, Ryding L, Brooker G, Austin CE, Ohanian V, Mullins J, Heagerty AM. (2006). Alpha V integrins are necessary for eutrophic inward remodelling of small arteries in hypertension. Hypertension, 47, 281-287. eScholarID:1d26677 | DOI:10.1161/01.HYP.0000198428.45132.02
  • Lynch FM, Austin CE, Heagerty AM, Izzard AS. (2006). Adenosine and hypoxia-induced dilation of human coronary resistance arteries: evidence against the involvement of KATP channels. British Journal of Pharmacology, 147, 455-458. eScholarID:1d26675 | DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706622
  • Lynch FM, Austin CE, Heagerty AM, Izzard AS. (2006). Adenosine and hypoxic dilation of rat coronary small arteries; roles of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel, endothelium and nitric oxide. American Journal of Physiology, 290, H1151-H1156. eScholarID:1d26674 | DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00314.2005
  • Shaw LM, Sweeney MA, Jones CJP, O'Neill SC, Austin CE, Taggart MJ. (2006). Caveolae and sarcoplasmic reticular coupling in smooth muscle cells of pressurised arteries: the relevance for Ca2+ oscillations and tone. Cardiovasc. Res, 69 (4), 825-835. eScholarID:1d13056 | DOI:10.1016/j.cardiores.2005.12.016

2005

  • Austin CE. (2005). Flow-mediated dilation does/does not reflect nitric oxide-mediated endothelial function. J. App. Physiol, eScholarID:1d11627
  • Malik RA, Schofield I, Izzard AS, Austin CE, Bermann G, Heagerty AM. (2005). Effects of angiotensin Type-1 receptor antagonism on small artery function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hypertension, 45, 264-269.. eScholarID:1d26111 | DOI:10.1161/01.HYP.0000153305.50128.a1

2004

  • Bruce J, Taggart MJ, Austin CE. (2004). Contractile responses of isolated rat mesenteric arteries to acute episodes of severe hypoxia and subsequent re-oxygenation. Microvasc. Res, 68, 303-312.. eScholarID:1d8733
  • Shaw LM, O'Neill SC, Jones CJP, Austin CE, Taggart MJ. (2004). Comparison of U46619-, endothelin-1- or phenylephrine-induced changes in cellular Ca2+ profiles and Ca2+ sensitisation of constriction of pressurised rat resistance arteries. Br J Pharmacol, 141( 4), 678-88. eScholarID:1d10789 | DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705647
  • Azzawi M, Austin CE. (2004). Myogenic regulation of isolated small coronary arteries following increases in extravascular pressure. Microvascular Research, 68, 71-74. eScholarID:17d842

2003

  • Montgomery S, Shaw LM, N Pantelides, Taggart MJ, Austin CE. (2003). Acute effects of oestrogen receptor subtype-specifc agonists on vascular contractility. British Journal of Pharmacology, 139, 1249-1253. eScholarID:1d25182 | DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705368
  • Shaw LM, S Ahmed, Austin CE, Taggart MJ. (2003). Inhibitors of actin filament polymerisation attenuate force but not global intracellular calcium in isolated pressurised resistance arteries. Journal of Vascular Research, 40, 1-10. eScholarID:1d25021

2002

  • Schofield I, Malik RA, Izzard AS, Austin CE, Heagerty AM. (2002). Vascular structural and functional changes in type 2 diabetes mellitus: evidence for the role of abnormal myogenic responsiveness and dyslipidemia. Circulation, 106, eScholarID:1d2345 | DOI:10.1161/01.CIR.0000041432.80615.A5

2001

  • Shaw LM, Taggart MJ, Austin CE. (2001). Effects of oestrous cycle and gender on acute vasodilatory responses of isolated pressurised rat mesenteric arteries to 17beta-oestradiol. Br.J.Pharmacol, 132, 1055-1062. eScholarID:1d2404 | DOI:10.1038/sj.bjp.0703908

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