Tonio Pera, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine
Contact Information
1020 Locust Street
Jefferson Alumni Hall, Room 236
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-503-5127
215-503-5731 fax
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine
Research & Clinical Interests
The Pera lab focuses on studying how GPCR signaling and functions are regulated by arrestins and GPCR kinases (GRKs), primarily in airway smooth muscle. In particular, we are interested in how muscarinic receptor biased signaling affects airway physiology. Biased signaling refers to the ability of GPCRs to induce disparate signaling pathways when bound to certain (biased) ligands. Biased signaling is often regulated by arrestins and GRKs. Muscrinic receptors are major drivers of airway pathology and therefore understanding muscarinic biased signaling is crucial for delineating signaling pathways which drive lung disease, as well as provide novel targets for therapy.
Education
PhD, University of Groningen in the Netherlands 2011
Publications
- The biased M3 mAChR ligand PD 102807 mediates qualitatively distinct signaling to regulate airway smooth muscle phenotype
- PD 102807 Induces M3 mAChR-Dependent GRK-/Arrestin-Biased Signaling in Airway Smooth Muscle Cells
- Pharmacological Management of Asthma and COPD
- Specificity of NHERF1 regulation of GPCR signaling and function in human airway smooth muscle
- Regulation of ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor-1 expression and signaling
Professional Societies
- American Thoracic Society