Research Projects
The Effect of a Mixture of Pesticides on the Rat Cardiac Proteome (sponsored by NIH)
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. today and has been so for the last century. Approximately 70 million Americans suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease and many require ongoing pharmacological therapy. Mississippi has the highest age-adjusted death rate from cardiovascular disease of any state in the U.S. Mississippi has an agricultural 
based economy and much of the population resides in rural settings close to where crops are grown. This proximity results in the contact of the population with current use pesticides as well as legacy pesticides, those pesticides used in the past but persistent in the environment today. This grant proposes to examine the effects of two environmentally relevant pesticides, dieldrin and chlorpyrifos, on the rat cardiac proteome. The goal of this grant is to identify proteins whose levels of transcription and/or post-translational modifications are altered by exposure to these two pesticides. Our long-term objective is to better understand the extent to which commonly used pesticides and other environmental chemicals influence heart disease and its treatment.
