Aligned Research Focus Tissue engineering of myocardium, identification and characterization of caridac stem cells

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Embryonic and adult stem cells hold the promise of being able to restore normal function to diseased organs such as the heart. Prior to use in humans, stem cell-based organ regeneration must be tested in animal models. In collaboration with the lab of Timothy Kamp, M.D., Ph.D. my lab is studying the potential of mouse embryonic (ES) cell-derived cardiac progenitors to repopulate the heart following myocardial infarction.

We have found that ES cells and their derivatives can regenerate cardiac muscle and the two elements of arteries, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, in the absence of an immune response or teratoma formation. In vitro models of stem cell-derived tissues such as cardiac muscle help us understand the basic biology of stem cell differentiation and provide a valuable mechanism for pharmacological testing in human tissues.

In collaboration with the lab of William Murphy, Ph.D., we are creating an in vitro 3-D culture model of the embryonic heart using ES cell-derived cardiac myocytes.

Selected References:

Singla, D.K., Lyons, G.E., Kamp, T.J., Transplanted Embryonic Stem Cells Following Mouse Myocardial Infarction Inhibit Apoptosis and Cardiac Remodeling, Am J Physiol: Heart and Circulatory Physiology 293 (2): H1308-14. 2007

Jongpaiboonkit, L., King, W.J., Lyons, G.E., Paguirigan, A., Warrick, J., Beebe, D.J., Murphy, W.L. Adaptable hydrogel array format for 3-dimensional cell culture, Biomaterials 23: 3346-56. 2008

Hanley, E., Lauer, J.l., Micales, B.K., Lyons, G.E., Shohet, J.L. Surface-Directed Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells. Applied Physics Letters, 92, 193902-4. 2008

Squirrel, J., Eliceiri, K., Kamp, T.J., Lyons, G.E., (2008) Applications of multiphoton and fluorescence lifetime microscopy of endogenous flourescence to the study of differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells. Microsc Microanal. 14 Suppl 2:1472-3.

Kamp, T.J. and Lyons, G.E. (2009) On the Road to iPS Cell Cardiovascular Applications. Circ Res. 105:617-619