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Physiologist, Composer, Musician
Hector is the second child of seven brothers born in Mexico City into a family of composers and musicians. His Father, a noted violinist, studied medicine and became a plastic surgeon to support his large family. Although he gave up professional performing, he never stopped playing the violin. So Hector grew up surrounded by the harmonies of music, medicine, and a large family. Asthma Intervenes with LifeHector became ill with severe asthma when he was very young. His asthma was compounded by allergies to many foods, animals, and dust. Hector grew up in a protective environment with many restrictions. Despite these precautions, Hector was rushed to the hospital several times because of the life-threatening attacks. In the early 1960s, isoproterenol inhalers became available in Mexico, and their use became a turning point in the life of Hector, stopping those emergency room visits. Hector accommodated to these limitations by learning to play the piano, write music, and developing a very keen interest in understanding how the human body works. Christmas presents at the Rasgado household through the years were often microscopes, telescopes, or biological models. As young teenagers, the Rasgado brothers founded an “Institute of Sciences” at their house and carried out experiments in chemistry, biology, and rocketry. Hector combined his interests by studying piano performance, composition, and medicine. Soon Hector realized that there was no alternative but to become a physiologist in order to understand how we listen to music, play music with our muscles, and breathe with deep satisfaction. Training to be a PhysiologistIn 1979 Hector obtained a Master of Sciences degree in Neurosciences at the Center for Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, studying with Drs. David Erlij and Carlos Gomez-Lojero. He then joined the Laboratory of Dr. Mordecai P. Blaustein at the Department of Physiology at the University of Maryland to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Physiology, which he obtained in 1984. At that time, they found that the smooth endoplasmic reticulum has a much higher affinity (although much less capacity) to trap intracellular Ca2+ than the mitochondria. Dr. Rasgado continued his work with Dr. Blaustein as a postdoctoral fellow. Together they measured that 3 Na+ ions are exchanged per 1 Ca2+ ion in the plasma membrane of muscle cells. This work then led Dr. Rasgado to collaborate with Dr. Hugo Gonzalez-Serratos (Dept. Biophysics, Univ. of Maryland), studying how Mg2+ ions are transported across the plasma membrane of nerve and muscle cells. They found a new transporter of Mg2+, which involves the ions Na+, K+, and Cl-. Subsequently, he collaborated with Dr. Robert Rakowski (Dept. Physiology, Chicago Medical School) to study how changes in membrane potential affect the Na/Ca exchanger in muscle cells. While studying the Na/Ca exchanger, Dr. Rasgado serendipitously found that increases in the concentration of intracellular Ca2+ produce reductions in the volume of muscle cells. This finding introduced him to the field of cell volume regulation and allowed him to obtain his first NIH grant in 1988. At this time he joined the Department of Physiology at the Chicago Medical School as a faculty member and continued his work on the regulation of intracellular Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions and cell volume regulation in muscle cells. His main contributions to these fields have been characterizing a novel plasmalemmal transporter for Mg2+, helping to understand the mechanisms by which muscle cells sense and control their volume in response to their needs and/or to changes in their environment, and contributing to our understanding of how and why muscle cells undergo cell volume changes during their contraction. Service to the Scientific CommunityDr. Rasgado-Flores has been an active member of APS. His nationality and background led him to apply for committee service on the International Physiology Committee. His eagerness to help his fellow scientists and his leadership abilities on the Committee led to his being named Chair of the Committee for two consecutive terms. He has initiated a program to support specialized meetings for physiologists in Mexico and Latin and South America that are held in their own countries and have speakers from the US that are paid for in part by APS. Through his efforts, physiologists from those countries are able to better interact with their American counterparts and exchange valuable information on their research.
Family Life
Being the father of three active young children, Dr. Rasgado hopes that he will be able to instill in them the passion for science and music that was nurtured in him by his family. After all, being a physiologist and a musician are just two approaches to a common quest: To live life to the fullest and to try to give back a bit of pleasure and knowledge to our fellow men.
Writing a symphony Find your passion in life and follow it with all your might. Do not fall into the trap of finding easy answers and just a comfortable life. Never go to bed not being tired of working hard and without having asked yourself, what have I learned today?. Life is very short and there is so much to learn, to discover and to share with the people that surround us, specially our loved ones. Be compassionate and try to help others, especially those that have not received as many privileges as you have.
Recent Publications
2. Rasgado-Flores, H., S. Sanchez-Armass, D. Nachshen, and M.P. Blaustein. Strontium, barium and manganese metabolism in isolated presynaptic nerve terminals. Am. J. Physiol. 252 (Cell Physiol. 21): C604-C610, 1987. 3. Rasgado-Flores, H., and M.P. Blaustein. Na/Ca exchange in barnacle muscle cells has a stoichiometry of 3 Na+:1 Ca2+. Am. J. Physiol. 252 (Cell Physiol. 21): C499-C504, 1987. 4. Rasgado-Flores, H., E.M. Santiago, and M.P. Blaustein. Kinetics and stoichiometry of coupled Na efflux and Ca influx (Na/Ca exchange) in barnacle muscle cells. J. Gen. Physiol. 93:1219-1241, 1989. 5. Gonzalez-Serratos, H., and H. Rasgado-Flores. Extracellular Na-dependent Mg efflux in squid axons. Am. J. Physiol. 259 (Cell Physiol. 28): C541-C548, 1990. 6. Berman, D., C. Peña-Rasgado, M. Holmgren, P. Hawkins, and H. Rasgado-Flores. External Ca effect on water permeability, regulatory volume decrease and extracellular space in barnacle muscle cells. Am. J. Physiol. 265 (Cell Physiol. 34): C1128-C1137, 1993. 7. Espinosa-Tanguma, R., J. DeSantiago, and H. Rasgado-Flores. α-Chymotrypsin deregulation of the sodium-calcium exchanger in barnacle muscle cells. Am. J. Physiol. 265 (Cell Physiol. 34): C1118-C1127, 1993. 8. Rasgado-Flores, H., H. Gonzalez-Serratos, and J. DeSantiago. Extracellular Mg2+-dependent Na+, K+ and Cl- efflux in squid giant axons. Am. J. Physiol. 266: (Cell Physiol. 35): C1112-C1117, 1994. 9. Peña-Rasgado, C., V.A. Kimler, K.D. McGruder, J. Tie, and H. Rasgado-Flores. Opposite roles of cAMP and cGMP on volume loss in muscle cells. Am. J. Physiol. 267 (Cell Physiol. 36): C1319-C1328, 1994. 10. Rasgado-Flores, H., J. Tie, R. Espinosa-Tanguma, and J. DeSantiago. Voltage-dependence of Na/Na exchange in barnacle muscle cells: I. Na-Na exchange activated by a-chymotrypsin. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 779:236-248, 1996. 11. Summers, J.C., L. Trais, R. Lajvardi, D. Hergan, R. Buechler, H. Chang, C. Peña-Rasgado, and H. Rasgado-Flores. Role of concentration and size of intracellular macromolecules in cell volume regulation. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Cell Physiol. 42): C360-C370, 1997. 12. Rasgado-Flores, H. and H. Gonzalez-Serratos. Plasmalemmal transport of magnesium in excitable cells. Frontiers Biosci. 5: 866-879, 2000. 13. Peña-Rasgado, C., S.K. Pierce, and H. Rasgado-Flores. Osmolytes responsible for volume reduction in response to isosmotic Ca2+ removal or to hypotonicity in muscle cells. Cell. Molec. Biol. 47: 841-853, 2001. 14. Bitner, J., C. Pena-Rasgado, J. Ruiz, J. Cardona, and H. Rasgado-Flores. Osmotic properties of internally perfused barnacle muscle cells. I: Isosmotic conditions. Cell. Molec. Biol. 47: 855-864, 2001. 15. Peña-Rasgado, C., and H. Rasgado-Flores. Cell Volume Sensing and Regulation in Barnacle Muscle Cells. In: Cell Volume and Signal Transduction, edited by P. K. Lauf. New York: Plenum. In press.
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Playing the piano, writing music and performing
allowed Dr. Rasgado to compensate for a difficult childhood. Furthermore,
it introduced him to his wife, Cecilia Peña-Rasgado, a physicist who works
with him and who fell in love with him during one of his concerts. Being a
physiologist has permitted Dr. Rasgado to understand a little better how
cells work, how one plays the piano, and how we breathe.