Research Interests:
Research is directed at discovering molecules that promote differentiation of cardiomyocyte progenitors that will ultimately be useful for regeneration of muscle cells that are lost in heart disease. To do this, we 1) study heart formation during embryonic development to learn about the natural cell and tissue interactions that control heart formation, 2) study cardiomyocyte differentiation in mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and 3) use robotic screening approaches to discover small molecules for cardiomyocyte production from ESCs.
Recent studies from the laboratory led to the discovery of signaling cascades that specify cardiogenic mesoderm in the early embryo and, subsequently, control the formation of certain cardiac tissues, such as heart muscle cells. Signaling cascades initiated by Wnt, BMP and Notch proteins are critical, as are complex interactions with tissues outside the heart field such as cells of the developing nervous system. Knowledge of the pathways that produce heart tissue in embryos is being applied to cardiomyogenesis for regenerative medicine applications.
A second emphasis of the lab focus is the production of pancreatic beta cells for diabetes applications. As for cardiomyocytes, the approach is to develop automated screening procedures to discover genes, proteins and small molecules that can be used to produce beta cells. Starting cell sources are ESCs as well as primary and immortalized human pancreatic cells.
Track(s):
Molecular Pathology
BMS Focus Areas:
Developmental Biology
Structural Chemical Biology
Stem Cells
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