Using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to model heart development and disease
Dr James Smith Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology, University of East Anglia, Norwich Medical School
Abstract: Cardiomyocytes (CMs) are the major contractile cardiac cell population, vital for heart function in health and disease. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer a source of human cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) for use in drug discovery pipelines, drug toxicity screening, disease modelling and clinical applications. In this talk, I will present our recent work using hiPSC-CMs to interrogate different signalling events that occur during cardiomyocyte development and disease.
A focus will be given to a class of non-coding RNAs (small nucleolar RNAs/ snoRNAs), and the specific roles played by SNORD116 in the metabolic development of cardiomyocytes. Additionally, I will describe our disease modelling
work, describing disruptions in key fatty acid metabolism pathways induced by genetic cardiomyopathy and iron deficiency. Finally, I will describe our recently published work on the extracellular matrix heparan sulfate proteoglycan, perlecan (HSPG2), and its signalling role during cardiomyocyte maturation.
Please message cp461@cam.ac.uk to schedule a meeting with James.
