Intercellular communication in cardiac regeneration
We have found that AP-1 regulates cardiomyocyte protrusion into injured collagenous tissue. In our follow-up studies to investigate these protrusions in more detail, we have found a close association of invading cardiomyocytes with multiple cell types within the injured area. We hypothesize that intercellular communication plays a major role in cardiomyocyte invasion and repopulation of the injured collagenous tissue.
CURRENT RESEARCH
We are using a combination of approaches to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cardiomyocyte replenishment of injured tissue: (i) live imaging to visualize cardiomyocyte invasion, (ii) single cell RNA-seq to find potential molecules mediating intercellular communication and (iii) conditional knockout approaches in vivo to decipher molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cardiomyocyte invasion of fibrotic tissue.