Jesse D. Hellums, P.E.

Research Interests:

• Applications of Fluid Mechanical
• Transport Phenomena Methods in Medicine and Biology

Education:

• B.S. (1950) University of Texas at Austin
• M.S. (1957) University of Texas at Austin
• Ph.D. (1961) University of Michigan

Human Blood Platelet Reactions Under Flow Conditions
Human blood platelets are known to play crucial roles in hemostatic and thrombotic events in the human vascular system. Hellums and his colleagues have shown that the shear stress field associated with flow in blood vessels plays an important role in determining platelet reactions. They have developed several controlled-shear reactors for studying platelet reactions. A rotational viscometer is fitted with fiberoptic probes that make it possible to monitor optical events indicative of platelet aggregation, release and increase in intracellular calcium ion concentrations. Studies in these reactors use a variety of specific inhibitors and pathologic platelets with specific deficiencies to elucidate the mechanisms of platelet reactions. One long term result of the work may be the development of improved antithrombotic agents.

Flow and Transport in the Microcirculation
Professor Hellums and his colleagues are engaged in studies on flow and transport in the microcirculation with emphasis on oxygen transport. They have developed a unique experimental system that can be used to determine oxygen fluxes to and from hemoglobin solutions and red cell suspensions under carefully controlled conditions simulating the microcirculation.

A combination of experimental and mathematical methods are being applied to ontribute to the understanding of transport in the microcirculation, to the mathematical methodology used in simulations of these processes, and to study the gas transport properties of two important classes of blood substitutes: chemically modified free hemoglobin and artificial red cells. The oblective is to obtain experimental and theoretical information that will allow the design of blood surrogates with optimized O2 transport efficiencies. An additional application of the methods is in improving or understanding of microcirculatory oxygen transport in sickle cell disease and in other blood cell disorders.

Selected Publications

1. Page, T. C., W. R. Light, C. B McKay, and J. D. Hellums, "Oxygen Transport by Erythrocyte/Hemoglobin Solution Mixtures in an in Vitro Capillary as a Model of Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carrier Performance," Microvascular Research, 55, 54-64 (1998).
2. Hellums, J. D., A. D. Taylor, S. Neelamegham, and S. I. Simon. " Rheological and Molecular Events in Neutrophil Aggregation", Journal of the Japanese Society of Biorheology, 12, 12-35 (1998).
3. Konstantopoulos, K., S Neelamegham, A. R. Burns, E. Hentzen, G. S. Kansas, K. R. Snapp, E. L. Berg, J. D. Hellums, C. W. Smith, L. V., McIntire, and S. I. Simon. "Venous Levels of Shear Support Neutrophil-Platelet Adhesion and Neutrophil Aggregation in Blood via P-selectin and Û2-integrin," Circulation, 98, 873-882 (1998).
4. Page, T. C., W. R. Light, and J. D. Hellums. "Experimental and Mathematical Simulation of Oxygen Transport by Hemoglobin-based Blood Substitutes". Ch. 11, pp. 135-145 in Present and Future Perspectives of Blood Substitutes, E. Tsuchida, editor, Elesvier, Lausanne, 1998.
5. Page, T. C., W. R. Light, and J. D. Hellums, "Prediction of Microcirculatory Oxygen Transport by Erythrocyte/Hemoglobin Mixtures", Microvascular Research, 56, 113-126 (1998).
6. Chow, T., J. D. Hellums, and P. Thiagarajan, "Thrombin Receptor Activating Peptide (SFLLRN) Potentiates Shear-Induced Platelet Microvesculation of Platelets", J. Lab. Clinical Med., 135, 66-72 (2000).
7. Chapman, G. B., W. Durante, J. D. Hellums, and A. Schafer, "Physiological Cyclic Stretch Causes Cell Cycle Arrest in Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells", Am. J. Physiol., Heart Circ. Physiol. 278: H748-H754, (2000).
8. Merten, M., T. Chow, J. D. Hellums, and P. Thiagarajan, "A New Role of P-Selectin in Shear-induced Platelet Aggregation," 102:2045-2050 (2000)
9. Budhiraja, V., J. D. Hellums, and J. F. M. Post, " Augmentation of Oxygen Transport by Various Hemoglobins as Determined by Pulsed Field Gradient NMR", Microvascular Research, Accepted. (2001).
10. Budhiraja, V. and J. D. Hellums. "Effect of Hemoglobin Polymerization on Oxygen Transport in Hemoglobin Solutions." Microvascular Research, 64, 220-223 (2002).

CHEMICAL & BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING DEPT. MS-362
Rice University PO Box 1892 Houston, Texas 77251-1892	E-mail: chbe@rice.edu	Phone: (713) 348-4902 FAX:(713) 348-5478