Division of Gastroenterology

John L. Wallace

PhD, MBA, FRSC

Professor, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine

Director, Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute

Research Areas

My major research interest is inflammation and the impact that it has on tissue injury and repair of injury. Most of my work involves studies of inflammation and ulceration in the gastrointestinal tract, although I also have a long-standing interest in cardiovascular inflammation and platelet function.

Focus

I am particularly interested in identification of novel targets for anti-inflammatory therapies, and the subsequent development of such therapies. I was a scientific co-founder of NicOx, a company based in France which is developing nitric oxide-releasing derivatives of several classes of drugs. More recently, I founded Antibe Therapeutics Inc., which is developing hydrogen sulfide-releasing derivatives of drugs for inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome and endothelial dysfunction and co-founded GInova Pharma, a company developing novel therapies for various digestive diseases.

Selected Publications

  1. Vergnolle N, Bunnett NW, Sharkey KA, Brussee V, Compton SJ, Grady E, Cirino G, Gerard N, Basbaum A.I., Andrade-Gordon P, Hollenberg MD, Wallace JL. Proteinase-activated receptor-2 and hyperalgesia: a novel pain pathway. Nature Medicine 7: 821-826, 2001.
  2. Ma L, Elliott SN, Cirino G, Buret A, Ignarro LJ, Wallace JL. Platelets modulate gastric ulcer healing through release of endostatin and VEGF. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98: 6470-6475, 2001.
  3. Ma L, Del Soldato P, Wallace JL. Divergent effects of new cyclooxygenase inhibitors on gastric ulcer healing: Shifting the angiogenic balance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 13243-13247, 2002.
  4. Zamuner S, Warrier N, Buret AG, MacNaughton WK, Wallace JL. COX-2 mediates colonic secretory and barrier dysfunction. Gut 52: 1714-1720, 2003.
  5. *Fiorucci S, *Wallace JL, Mencarelli A, Distrutti E, Rizzo G, Farneti S, Morelli A, Tseng J-L, Suramanyam B, Guilford W, Parkinson JF. A b-oxidation-resistant lipoxin A4 analog treats hapten-induced colitis by attenuating inflammation and immune dysfunction. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101: 15736-15741, 2004. *joint first authors
  6. Ma L, Perini R, Klein A, McKnight W, Dicay M, Hollenberg, MD, Wallace JL. Proteinase-activated receptors (PAR)-1 and -4 counter-regulate endostatin and VEGF release from human platelets. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102: 216-220, 2006.
  7. Fiorucci S, Antonelli E, Distrutti E, Mencarelli A, Orlandi S, Zanardo R, Renga B, Rizzo G, Morelli A, Cirino G, Wallace JL. Inhibition of hydrogen sulfide generation contributes to gastric injury caused by anti-inflammatory nonsteroidal drugs. Gastroenterology 129: 1210-1224, 2005.
  8. Zanardo RCO, Brancaleone V, Distrutti E, Fiorucci S, Cirino G, Wallace JL. Hydrogen sulphide is an endogenous modulator of leukocyte-mediated inflammation. FASEB J 20: 2118-2120, 2006.
  9. Wallace JL, Caliendo G, Santagada, V, Cirino G, Fiorucci S. Gastrointestinal safety and anti-inflammatory effects of a hydrogen sulphide-releasing diclofenac derivative in the rat. Gastroenterology 132: 261-271, 2007.
  10. Wallace JL, Dicay M, McKnight W, Martin GR. Hydrogen sulfide enhances ulcer healing. FASEB J 21: 4070-4076, 2007. .