Professor of Medicine
Divisions of Cardiology and Endocrinology
9500 Gilman Drive
San Diego California 92093-0613
office phone 858 534 3630
Fax 858 534 0522
email fvillarr@ucsd.edu
Background and training:
Dr. Villarreal obtained his M.D. degree in 1984 from the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico campus. In 1989 he graduated from UCSD’s Ph.D. program in Physiology and Pharmacology with a focus on research related to cardiac mechanics.
Research Interests:
Major focus of my research is to understand the pathophysiology of cardiac remodeling. Specific areas of research include: a) the renin-angiotensin system and cytokine network in the heart focusing on the ability of cardiac fibroblasts and animal models of cardiac remodeling to respond to stimulation by these humoral factors, b) the role of mechanical stimulation in regulating cardiac fibroblast function focusing on the activation of signal transduction pathways and changes in extracellular matrix proteins, c) the capacity of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor compounds to protect the heart from ischemic injury and, d) the examination of the capacity of adenosine to alter the course of pathological cardiac remodeling.
Selected Publications
Modulation of cardiac remodeling by adenosine: In vitro and in vivo effects Francisco Villarreal, Scott Zimmermann, Lala Makhsudova, Annika C. Montag, Mark D. Erion, David A. Bullough and Bruce R. Ito Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 251: 17–26, 2003. .Download pdf
Early Short-Term Treatment With Doxycycline Modulates Postinfarction Left Ventricular Remodeling Francisco J. Villarreal, MD, PhD; Michael Griffin, BS; Jeffrey Omens, PhD; Wolfgang Dillmann, MD; Judy Nguyen, BS; James Covell, MD Circulation. 2003;108:1487-1492.)Download pdf
Early degradation and serum appearance of type Icollagen fragments after myocardial infarction
FranciscoVillarreal , Jeffrey Omens ,Wolfgang Dillmann ,Juha Risteli , Judy Nguyen , James Covell Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 36 (2004) 597–601Download pdf
Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry for Investigating Protein-Ligand Interactions
Ricardo A. Garcia, Dennis Pantazatos, and Francisco J. Villarreal ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies 2, 81-91 , 2004Download pdf
Functional effects of enhancing or silencing adenosine A2b receptors in cardiac fibroblasts Yinghong Chen, Sara Epperson,Lala Makhsudova, Bruce Ito, Jorge Suarez, Wolfgang Dillmann, and Francisco Villarreal Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 287: H2478–H2486, 2004.Download pdf
Peroxisome Proliferator–Activated Receptors Ligands,Oxidative Stress, and Cardiac Fibroblast
Extracellular Matrix Turnover Francisco J. Villarreal, Juan Asbun Hypertension. 2004;44:621-622.Download pdf
Profibrotic influence of high glucose concentration on cardiac fibroblast functions: effects of losartan and vitamin E Juan Asbun, Ana Maria Manso, and Francisco J. Villarreal Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288: H227–H234, 2005.Download pdf
Abnormal cardiac wall motion and early matrix metalloproteinase activity Ricardo A. Garcia, Kristian L. Brown, Richard S. Pavelec, Katrina V. Go, James W. Covell, and Francisco J. Villarreal Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288: H1080–H1087, 2005.Download pdf
Molecular Interactions between Matrilysin and the Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitor Doxycycline Investigated by Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry Ricardo A. Garci´a, Dennis P. Pantazatos, Christopher R. Gessner, Katrina V. Go,Virgil L. Woods, Jr., and Francisco J. Villarreal Mol Pharmacol 67:1128–1136, 2005Download pdf
Reduction of myocardial infarct size by doxycycline: A role for plasmin inhibition Michael O. Griffin, Miki Jinno, Lindsey A. Miles, Francisco J. Villarreal1 Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 270: 1–11, 2005. Download pdf
Differential MMP-2 activity of ligament cells under mechanical stretch injury: An in vitro study on human ACL and MCL fibroblasts David Zhou , Hwa Sung Lee , Francisco Villarreal , Annabelle Teng ,Erick Lu , Shirley Reynolds , Chuan Qin , Joel Smith, K.L. Paul Sung Journal of Orthopaedic Research 23 (2005) 949–957Download pdf
David T. Puerta Michael O. Griffin Jana A. Lewis, Diego Romero-Perez, Ricardo Garcia, Francisco J. Villarreal , Seth M. Cohen Heterocyclic zinc-binding groups for use in next-generation matrixmetalloproteinase inhibitors: potency, toxicity, and reactivity J Biol Inorg Chem (2005) in pressDownload pdf
The Pathogenesis of Myocardial Fibrosis in the Setting of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy Juan Asbun, and Francisco J. Villarreal, JACC 2005 in press Download pdf