About

Professor Emilyn Alejandro is a faculty member in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She holds the Marvin and Hadassah Bacaner Chair in Cardiovascular Physiology and joined the department in September 2015 after completing her post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan. Her educational background includes a BS from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, where she worked in Dr. James D. Johnson’s laboratory. Her research focuses on cardiovascular physiology, with particular interest in the mechanisms underlying metabolic and cardiovascular health, and she is actively involved in mentoring trainees and conducting research in these areas.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Pathology
• Bioinformatics
• Surgery
• Biology
• Physiology
• Anatomy
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Anatomy of the Thoracic Wall, Pulmonary Cavities, and Mediastinum

  2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Sexual Dimorphism in the Architectural Design of Rat and Human Pelvic Floor Muscles

  Journal of Biomechanical Engineering · 2024-07-31 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Skeletal muscle architecture is a strong predictor of in vivo functional capacity and is evaluated in fixed tissues, accommodating the study of human muscles from cadaveric donors. Previous studies evaluating the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) demonstrated that the rat is the most appropriate small animal model for the study of female PFM architecture, but the rat's suitability for the study of male PFMs is undetermined. We aimed to determine (1) whether PFM architecture exhibits sexual dimorphism in rats or humans, and (2) if the rat is also a suitable animal model for the study of male human PFMs. PFMs were fixed in situ and harvested en bloc from male and female cadaveric donors and 3-month-old male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Three architectural parameters influenced by species size were used to compare male versus female PFMs within species, while four size-independent measures compared species within sex. All comparisons were made with two-way analysis of variances and Tukey's multiple comparisons tests post hoc. Sarcomere length (rats and humans, p = 0.016 and = 0.002) and normalized fiber length (rats, p < 0.001) were significantly larger in male PFMs. Three of the size-independent measures exhibited similar species trends in both sexes, while the size-independent sarcomere length measure (Ls/Lso) differed between male rats and humans (p < 0.001). Thus, sexual dimorphism is present in rat and human PFM architecture, and the male rat is suitable for studies of human male PFMs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Proregenerative extracellular matrix hydrogel mitigates pathological alterations of pelvic skeletal muscles after birth injury

  Science Translational Medicine · 2023 · 33 citations

  • Medicine
  • Pathology
  • Bioinformatics

  Pelvic floor disorders, including pelvic organ prolapse and urinary and fecal incontinence, affect millions of women globally and represent a major public health concern. Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction has been identified as one of the leading risk factors for the development of these morbid conditions. Childbirth, specifically vaginal delivery, has been recognized as the most important potentially modifiable risk factor for PFM injury; however, the precise mechanisms of PFM dysfunction after parturition remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that PFMs exhibit atrophy and fibrosis in parous women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse. These pathological alterations were recapitulated in a preclinical rat model of simulated birth injury (SBI). The transcriptional signature of PFMs after injury demonstrated an impairment in muscle anabolism, persistent expression of genes that promote extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and a sustained inflammatory response. We also evaluated the administration of acellular injectable skeletal muscle ECM hydrogel for the prevention of these pathological alterations. Treatment of PFMs with the ECM hydrogel either at the time of birth injury or 4 weeks after injury mitigated PFM atrophy and fibrosis. By evaluating gene expression, we demonstrated that these changes are mainly driven by the hydrogel-induced enhancement of endogenous myogenesis, ECM remodeling, and modulation of the immune response. This work furthers our understanding of PFM birth injury and demonstrates proof of concept for future investigations of proregenerative biomaterial approaches for the treatment of injured pelvic soft tissues.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• P1. Compression of the lumbosacral trunk and S1 nerve root by calcific posterior branches of the internal iliac artery: a potential source of sciatic pain

  The Spine Journal · 2022-08-19

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Distribution of Atherosclerosis Throughout Major Arteries of the Vascular System

  The FASEB Journal · 2021-05-01

  articleSenior author

  The purpose of this study was to analyze the overall distribution of atherosclerosis in ten major arteries in an effort to determine which locations could be targeted for clinical use in atherosclerosis screening. Data was collected from twenty male and twenty‐five female donors. The abdominal aorta, coronary, common carotid, external carotid, internal carotid, axillary, common iliac, external iliac, internal iliac, and femoral arteries were removed and examined for plaque deposition. Calipers were used to measure the presence of plaque and its thickness. The greatest frequency and severity of plaque accumulation was found in the abdominal aorta, followed by the common iliac artery. The greatest extent of plaque deposition in these vessels was observed at or near bifurcation sites. Notable differences in sidedness were not observed in the majority of paired arteries with the exceptions of the femoral and internal iliac arteries, which both indicated higher plaque frequencies on the right side of the body compared to the left. Plaque distribution between males and females was fairly analogous apart from the common carotid artery in which females displayed a significantly higher plaque frequency than males. An understanding of the distribution of plaque in the arterial system is a critical step towards screening patients for early detection and preventing early, asymptomatic plaque from progressing to a symptomatic or even life‐threatening condition.

  PublisherDOI

• Pro-regenerative Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Prevents and Mitigates Pathological Alterations of Pelvic Muscles Following Birth Injury

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2021 · 8 citations

  • Medicine
  • Pathology
  • Bioinformatics

  Abstract Pelvic floor disorders, which include pelvic organ prolapse, and urinary and fecal incontinence, affect millions of women globally and represent a major public health concern. Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) dysfunction has been identified as one of the leading risk factors for the development of these morbid conditions. Even though childbirth, specifically vaginal delivery, has been long recognized as the most important potentially modifiable risk factor for PFM injury, the precise mechanisms of PFM dysfunction following childbirth remain elusive. In this study we demonstrate that PFMs undergo atrophy and severe fibrosis in parous women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse compared to age-matched nulliparous cadaveric donors without history of pelvic floor disorders. These pathological alterations are recapitulated in the pre-clinical rat model of simulated birth injury. The transcriptional signature of PFMs post-injury demonstrates a sustained inflammatory response, impairment in muscle anabolism, and persistent expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling genes. Next, we evaluated the administration of acellular injectable skeletal muscle extracellular matrix hydrogel for the prevention and mitigation of these pathological alterations. Treatment of PFMs with the biomaterial either at the time of birth injury or 4 weeks post-injury reduced muscle atrophy and mitigated fibrotic degeneration. By evaluating gene expression, we demonstrate that these changes are mainly driven by the hydrogel-induced modulation of the immune response and intramuscular fibrosis, as well as enhancement of the endogenous myogenesis. This work furthers our understanding of PFM birth injury and demonstrates proof-of-concept for a new pragmatic pro-regenerative biomaterial approach for treating injured PFMs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Novel Application of Photogrammetry to Quantify Fascicle Orientations of Female Cadaveric Pelvic Floor Muscles

  Annals of Biomedical Engineering · 2021-02-26 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quantifying the Effects of Aging on Morphological and Cellular Properties of Human Female Pelvic Floor Muscles

  Annals of Biomedical Engineering · 2021 · 16 citations

  • Medicine
  • Physiology
  • Pathology
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Age-associated changes in the mechanical properties of human cadaveric pelvic floor muscles

  Journal of Biomechanics · 2019-11-01 · 38 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mechanical Analysis of the Uterosacral Ligament: Swine vs. Human

  Annals of Biomedical Engineering · 2018-07-26 · 22 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Marianna Alperin

  Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine

  16 shared

• Richard L. Lieber

  Northwestern University

  12 shared

• Pamela Duran

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  8 shared

• Karen L. Christman

  University of California, San Diego

  8 shared

• Manali Shah

  Rush University Medical Center

  6 shared

• Timothy F. Tirrell

  Boston Children's Hospital

  6 shared

• Samuel R. Ward

  University of California, San Diego

  6 shared

• Mary C. Esparza

  University of California, San Diego

  5 shared

Labs

• Alejandro LabPI