Massachusetts General Hospital

The Roberts Laboratory resides within the Cardiovascular Research Center and is lead by Dr. Jesse Roberts Jr., a pulmonary cell and molecular biologist and a Massachusetts General Hospital pediatrician with clinical expertise in neonatology and anesthesia. The Roberts Lab mission involves using cell and molecular biology tools to develop and investigate novels mechanisms of important pediatric pulmonary diseases and to rapidly extend these new findings to patient care through translational and technological innovations. For example, we have investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO), cGMP,  and cytokine signaling in the injured newborn and infant lung and developed the use of inhaled NO gas and advanced cytokine modulation technologies to prevent or ameliorate pediatric pulmonary vascular diseases.  With the extensive research facilities offered by the Cardiovascular Research Center and Massachusetts General Hospital, devotion of very talented post-doctoral students and laboratory research staff, and generous support by collaborators and important government, industry, and private supporters, the Roberts Laboratory has introduced several important innovations into pediatric pulmonary care.

The Cardiovascular Research Center

Selected References

1. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Inhaled nitric oxide (NO): a selective pulmonary vasodilator for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn (PPHN). Circulation, 1991. 84: p. A1279.
2. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Inhaled nitric oxide in persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Lancet, 1992. 340(8823): p. 818-9.
3. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Inhaled nitric oxide reverses pulmonary vasoconstriction in the hypoxic and acidotic newborn lamb. Circ Res, 1993. 72(2): p. 246-54.
4. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Inhaled nitric oxide in congenital heart disease. Circulation, 1993. 87(2): p. 447-53.
5. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Continuous nitric oxide inhalation reduces pulmonary arterial structural changes, right ventricular hypertrophy, and growth retardation in the hypoxic newborn rat. Circ Res, 1995. 76(2): p. 215-22.
6. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Inhaled nitric oxide and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. The Inhaled Nitric Oxide Study Group. N Engl J Med, 1997. 336(9): p. 605-10.
7. Roberts, J.D., Jr., et al., Nitric oxide inhalation decreases pulmonary artery remodeling in the injured lungs of rat pups. Circ Res, 2000. 87(2): p. 140-5.
8. Bloch, K.D., et al., Inhaled NO as a therapeutic agent. Cardiovasc Res, 2007. 75(2): p. 339-48.
9. Nakanishi, H., et al., TGF-beta-neutralizing antibodies improve pulmonary alveologenesis and vasculogenesis in the injured newborn lung. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 2007. 293(1): p. L151-61.
10. Sugiura, T., H. Nakanishi, and J.D. Roberts, Jr., Proteolytic processing of cGMP-dependent protein kinase I mediates nuclear cGMP signaling in vascular smooth muscle cells. Circ Res, 2008. 103(1): p. 53-60.
11. Bachiller, P., H. Nakanishi, and J.D. Roberts, Jr., TGF-beta decreases expression of NO signaling enzymes in the injured developing lung. E-PAS, 2009: p. 2540.2.