Dissecting endocardial signals required for cardiac muscle regeneration in zebrafish. Unlike humans, zebrafish have an extraordinary ability to regenerate their damaged hearts. This project will study the endocardium, a thin layer of cells lining the inner heart, to find important genes for regeneration. Results from this study may provide insights into proper repair of human hearts after injury.
Heme oxygenase integrates cellular responses to oxygen stress. A deficiency in the protein heme oxygenase-1 causes severe biological consequences including retarded development, chronic inflammation and increased susceptibility to age-associated diseases. By illuminating how heme oxygenase-1 improves cell function the project will eventually assist in preventing or slowing the serious age-associated disorders.
Sprouting Angiogenesis and its Role in Development of Chamber Myocardium. The project aims to investigate how heart chambers form by testing the hypothesis that morphogenesis of the muscular walls of the heart is regulated during development by a Notch signalling-dependent process akin to angiogenic sprouting in other vascular beds. The project outcomes may have implications for diagnosis of congenital heart disease and for the fields of cardiac tissue engineering and regeneration. The project p ....Sprouting Angiogenesis and its Role in Development of Chamber Myocardium. The project aims to investigate how heart chambers form by testing the hypothesis that morphogenesis of the muscular walls of the heart is regulated during development by a Notch signalling-dependent process akin to angiogenic sprouting in other vascular beds. The project outcomes may have implications for diagnosis of congenital heart disease and for the fields of cardiac tissue engineering and regeneration. The project plans to elucidate cellular and molecular pathways underlying heart chamber development in mice using contemporary genetic methods, molecular embryology and imaging. Benefits may include a new framework for understanding heart development and disease, and the future application of this knowledge to translational cardiology.Read moreRead less
Endocardial sprouting and mechano-signalling in heart trabeculation. This project aims to understand how the ventricles, the pumping chambers of the mammalian heart, form during embryonic life. Critical is the elaboration of trabeculae, myocardial projections that form a sponge-like layer on the inner surface of the chamber wall and which play vital roles in contraction, oxygen and nutrient exchange, conduction and septation. The project expects to develop a deeper understanding of trabeculation ....Endocardial sprouting and mechano-signalling in heart trabeculation. This project aims to understand how the ventricles, the pumping chambers of the mammalian heart, form during embryonic life. Critical is the elaboration of trabeculae, myocardial projections that form a sponge-like layer on the inner surface of the chamber wall and which play vital roles in contraction, oxygen and nutrient exchange, conduction and septation. The project expects to develop a deeper understanding of trabeculation using high resolution, single cell methodologies, and to investigate how bio-mechanical forces from contraction or blood flow influence chambers formation.Read moreRead less