Research

Our laboratory is focused on the molecular pathways that regulate lung and cardiovascular development. The lung exemplifies a tissue which undergoes branching morphogenesis leading to an arborized network of airways that develops from the early foregut endoderm. As development proceeds, gene and cell specific programs are initiated along a proximal-distal axis such that epithelial cell lineages are distinct in the proximal versus distal regions of the lung by mid to late gestation. Development of the lung involves intricate epithelial-mesenchymal signaling which is required for these patterning events, leading to the correct spatial differentiation of the more than 40 cell types found within the adult mammalian lung.

In contrast, the heart forms from the early lateral mesoderm of the embryo and is the first organ required for embryonic survival.Cardiovascular morphogenesis is driven by a known set of transcriptional and signaling regulators including the transcription factors GATA4/5/6, Mef2a/b/c/d and Nkx2.5 and BMP, TGF-b, as well as Wnt signaling. What is less well understood is the inter-relationship between these factors/pathways and how they direct myocardial growth and differentiation as well as the intricate morphological processes required for proper septation of the developing cardiovascular system. Our lab utilizes both in vitro and in vivo approaches (gene knock-outs, transgenic mice and zebrafish) to address key questions in lung and cardiovascular development.

• Wnt Signaling and Lung Development

• Foxp1/2/4 in Lung and Cardiac Development

• Lung Stem Cells - Defining Molecular Pathways for Self-Renewal and Differentation

• Cardiac Stem Cells and Development