Endothelial Cell Cycle Control in Vascular Malformations: Therapeutics Implications in Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia The hypothesis of our work is that improper cell cycle control in endothelial cells is a key factor leading to vascular malformations and that drugs regulating cell … Read More
Hosted by: Swapnil Sonkusare, PhD and Brant Isakson, PhD The Space Between: How Lymphatic Endothelial Junction Proteins Control Development Lymphatic vessels form specialized structures to enable the absorption and transport of interstitial fluid. Two of these structures are discontinuous button-like … Read More
Hosted by: Mete Civelek, PhD Sex-biased genetic factors influence obesity, lipid absorption, and statin adverse effects We are investigating sex differences in cardiometabolism to identify genetic factors that influence adiposity and lipid metabolism. We have identified histone demethylase enzymes that … Read More
Hosted by: Bowen Wang, PhD Reconstructing Organotypic Vasculature in a Dish: Towards Therapeutic Discovery and Precision Medicine Capillary endothelial cells are highly specialized in different organ systems at both molecular and functional levels. However, the factors driving endothelial cell fate … Read More
Chronic viral infection drives three gene expression states in cardiomyocytes Several viruses can infect the human heart and persist long term, leading to heart failure. This project identifies undiagnosed viral heart infections using large RNA-seq datasets collected from patient hearts. … Read More
Connexin-43 hemichannels as mediators of cardiac stress-induced arrhythmias and myocardial infarction Connexin 43 (Cx43) is the most abundant gap junction channel-forming isoform in cardiac ventricles. In multiple cardiac pathologies, Cx43 is found to be remodeled to the lateralized side of … Read More
Hosted by: Melissa Luse Interorgan transport of mitochondria from energetically stressed adipocytes Adipocytes that undergo mitochondrial stress, as in obesity, release damaged mitochondria in extracellular vesicles (mitoEVs). These mitoEVs enter circulation and can be taken up by multiple organs. This … Read More
Pioneering MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are hemorrhage-prone vascular lesions that form in the central nervous system. To date, the only available treatment option for CCMs is surgical resection of the lesion--a treatment option that is … Read More
Optical Dissection of Brain Capillary Function My lab uses in vivo multi-photon imaging and a combination of optical and genetic approaches to study how brain capillaries are perfused. Our goal is to define cellular and molecular targets to improve cerebral … Read More
Targeting the epigenome to increase cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration Epigenomic remodelling during cardiomyocyte maturation serves to suppress fetally expressed genes and promote the expression of genes necessary for adult function. Genes involved in cell cycle activity that are expressed … Read More
RNA binding proteins: Wizards of gene regulation in the heart Mutations in RNA binding proteins are associated with adult and congenital heart diseases. It is unclear how these RNA binding proteins alter gene expression in the heart and cause heart … Read More
Mechanisms of Endothelial Cell Fate Determination – Applications to Cardiac Tissue Regeneration Endothelial cell specification into arterial and venous phenotypes is critical for the development of a circulatory network, and requires coordination between extrinsic and intrinsic signaling. These maturation events … Read More
