Cytoskeleton remodelling at the heart of cardiac morphogenesis and disease
BHF Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellow Dr Emily Noel is working out the origins of congenital heart disease – when babies are born with a heart that has not formed correctly in the womb, usually due to a problem with one or more of their genes. The internal scaffolding of the cells of the body, including the heart, is called the cytoskeleton, and much of it is made of a protein called actin. The cytoskeleton must be correctly organised for heart cells and the heart itself to develop normally. Faulty genes that are involved in building and organising the actin cytoskeleton are known to be related to the development of congenital heart disease. In this project, Dr Noel will study zebrafish, whose heart develops in a similar way to humans. She has developed a new technique called RNA tomography to identify new genes and other factors that control the cytoskeleton in heart cells and that are important during normal heart development. Dr Noel will then work out which heart cells require these genes, what they do in the cell, and what happens when the genes do not work normally. This will help us understand why people with faulty cytoskeleton genes develop heart defects. This knowledge could help doctors develop new treatments for congenital heart disease. Understanding how the heart grows in the womb could also give clues to mending a heart after it has been injured.
Project details
| Grant amount | £716,606 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship |
| Start Date | 01 January 2017 |
| Duration | 5 years |
| Reference | FS/16/37/32347 |
| Status | In Progress |
