Dr. Im’s research focuses on defining a role of angiogenesis in the gut physiology and pathology, and finding new regulators of angiogenesis and underlying mechanism of action. Specifically, the lab has investigated the function of the corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) family of peptides as a novel angiogenic regulator in intestinal inflammation. The CRH family of peptides binds to two G protein coupled receptors, CRHR1 and CRHR2, to exert its biological activity. Recently, we observed the differential immunomodulatory effect of CRHR1 and CRHR2 in animal studies and the opposite angiogenic effect of both receptors from in vitro and in vivo studies. Studies to be presented will include an overview of the function of the CRH family peptides in the gut pathophysiology including inflammatory bowel disease, a role of two different CRH receptors in intestinal angiogenesis and inflammation, and their putative mechanism of action.

Selected Publications

1. Im E, Kazlauskas A. Regulating angiogenesis at the level of PtdIns-4,5-P2. EMBO J 2006 May;25(10):2075-2082.
2. Im E, Kazlauskas A. Src family kinases promote vessel stability by antagonizing the Rho/ROCK pathway. J Biol Chem 2007 Oct;282(40):29122-29129.
3. Im E, Motiejunaite R, Aranda J, Park EY, Federico L, Kim TI, Clair T, Stracke ML, Smyth S, Kazlauskas A. Phospholipase Cg activation drives increased production of autotaxin in endothelial cells and lysophosphatidic acid-dependent regression. Mol Cell Biol 2010 May; 30(10):2401-2410.
4. Im E, Rhee SH, Park YS, Fiocchi C, Tache Y, Pothoulakis C. Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Family of Peptides Regulates Intestinal Angiogenesis. Gastroenterology 2010 Jun;138(7):2457-2467,2467.e1-5.
5. Ma EL, Choi YJ, Choi J, Pothoulakis C, Rhee SH, Im E. The anticancer effect of probiotic Bacillus polyfermenticus on human colon cancer cells is mediated through ErbB2 and ErbB3 inhibition. Int J Cancer 2010 Aug 15;127(4):780-790.