Dr. Seow specializes in smooth and skeletal muscle cell biology/physiology. His current research focus is on the mechanical function, ultrastructure, and biochemistry of airway smooth muscle in health and disease. Dr. Seow was recruited to UBC as a MRC Scholar/CIHR New Investigator in 1996; he was subsequently awarded CHIR/BC Lung Association Investigatorship in 2001. His research programs have been continuously supported by CIHR since 1996. There are two main components of his current CIHR-funded research programs (MOP-13271, MOP-4725). One focuses on the basic mechanism of contraction in smooth muscle, the other on airway hyperresponsiveness related to dysfunction of human airway smooth muscle. His other research interests include skeletal muscle mechanics, ATPase cycle associated with the crossbridge cycle, and mathematical modeling of muscle function.

Refereed Papers
Naghshin, J, L Wang, PD Paré, and CY Seow. Airway Hyperresponsiveness: From Molecule to Bedside. Selected Contribution: Adaptation to chronic length change in explanted airway smooth muscle. J Appl Physiol. 95:448-453, 2003.

Szado T, Kuo KH, Bernard-Helary K, Poburko D, Lee CH, Seow C, Ruegg UT, van Breemen C. Agonist-induced mitochondrial Ca2+ transients in smooth muscle. FASEB J. 17(1):28-37, 2003.

Kuo, KH, AM Herrera, L Wang, PD Paré, LE Ford, NL Stephens, and CY Seow. Structure-function correlation in airway smooth muscle adapted to different lengths. Am J Physiol. (Cell Physiol.) 285(2):C384-C390, 2003.

Kuo, KH, AM Herrera, and CY Seow. Ultrastructure of airway smooth muscle. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 137:197-208, 2003.

Schellenberg, RR, and CY Seow. Airway smooth muscle and related extracellular matrix in normal and asthmatic lung. In: Middleton’s Allergy: Principles and Practice (6th Ed), Eds, NF Adkinson, Jr, JW Yunginger, WW Busse, BS Bochner, ST Holgate, and FER Simons. Mosby, Inc. Philadelphia, 2003. pp. 711-725.

Kuo KH, Dai J, Seow CY, Lee CH, and Van Breemen C. Relationship between asynchronous Ca2+ waves and force development in intact smooth muscle bundles of the porcine trachea. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 285(6):L1345-L1353, 2003.

Lambert RK, Pare PD, and Seow CY. Mathematical description of geometric and kinematic aspects of smooth muscle plasticity and some related morphometrics. J Appl Physiol. 96(2):469-476, 2004.

Kuo KH, and Seow CY. Contractile filament architecture and force transmission in swine airway smooth muscle. J Cell Sci. 117(Pt 8):1503-1511, 2004.

Herrera AM, McParland BE, Bienkowska A, Tait R, Pare PD, and Seow CY. "Sarcomeres" of smooth muscle: functional characteristics and ultrastructural evidence. J Cell Sci. 118: 2381-2392, 2005.

Seow CY. Biophysics: Fashionable cells. Nature, 435:1172-1173, 2005.

McParland BE, Tait RR, Pare PD, and Seow CY. The role of airway smooth muscle during an asthma attack simulated in vitro. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 33(5):500-504, 2005.

Seow CY. Perspective in Cell Physiology: Myosin filament assembly in an ever-changing myofilament lattice of smooth muscle. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 289:C1363-C1368, 2005.

Chin L, Yue P, Feng JJ, and Seow CY. Mathematical simulation of muscle crossbridge cycle and force-velocity relationship. Biophys J. 91(10):3653-3663, 2006.

Ip K, Sobieszek A, Solomon D, Jaio Y, Pare PD, and Seow CY. Physical integrity of smooth muscle myosin filaments is enhanced by phosphorylation of the regulatory myosin light chain. Cellular Physiol Biochem. 20(5):649-658, 2007.

Syyong H, Cheung C, Solomon D, Seow CY, and Kuo KH. Adaptive Response of Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle to Length Change. J Appl Physiol. 104(4):1014-20, 2008.

Bossé Y, Chin LYM, Paré PD, and Seow CY. Adaptation of airway smooth muscle to basal tone: Relevance to airway hyperresponsiveness. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 40(1):13-18, 2009.

Bossé Y, Chin LYM, Paré PD, and Seow CY. Chronic activation in shortened airway smooth muscle: A synergistic combination underlying airway hyperresponsiveness? Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. (In press).

Abstracts
Herrera, AM, A Bienkowska, B McParland, PD Pare, and CY Seow. Adaptation of Airway Smooth Muscle at Short Lengths Enhances Muscle Shortening. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 167:A714, 2003. (Best poster award at ATS Seattle)

Herrera, AM, and CY Seow. Actin polymerization in airway smooth muscle. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 167:A713, 2003.

Kuo, KH, and CY Seow. Subcellular Arrangement of Contractile Filaments in Airway Smooth Muscle. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 167:A712, 2003.

Lambert, RK, PD Paré, and CY Seow. A mathematical description of airway smooth muscle plasticity and morphometrics. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 167:A712, 2003.

McParland, BE, PD Pare, and CY Seow. Plasticity is not just a phenomenon of tracheal smooth muscle. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 167:A714, 2003.

Smolensky, AV, Ragozzino, J, Gilbert, SH, Seow, CY, and LE Ford. Birefringence changes during the contraction-relaxation cycle of porcine tracheal muscle at different lengths. Biophys J. 86:390a, 2004.

McParland, BE, RR Tait, PD Pare, and CY Seow. In vitro simulation of the role of airway smooth muscle in an asthma attach. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 169:A27, 2004.

Herrera, AM, BE McParland, R Tait, EC Martinez, PD Pare, and CY Seow. Influence of contractile filament overlap and myosin polymerization on isotonic shortening in airway smooth muscle. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 169:A448, 2004.

Herrera, AM, and CY Seow. Three-dimensional ultrastructure of an intact airway smooth muscle cell at nanometer resolution. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 169:A545, 2004. (Best poster award at ATS Orlando)