Stem Cell Projects
Cardiac Differentiation
Our lab has developed protocols to differentiate hPSCs into many different cardiac lineages including cardiomyocytes, epicardial cells, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts. We are currently investigating the effects of some chemical and physical cues on improving cardiac differentiation from hPSCs. This work is a collaboration with the NSF Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies. Additional information about a day in the life of a stem cell scientist can be found here.
The image to the right is of hPSC-cardiomyocyte sarcomeres. Green indicates a-actinin, red indicates phalloidin staining for F-actin, and blue indicates nuclei.
Neural Differentiation
Our lab has developed protocols to differentiate into brain microvessel endothelial-like cells and brain pericyte-like cells. We are currently investigating how these cells interact with other cells in the brain during development and under disease-like conditions. This work is a collaboration with the laboratory of Eric Shusta.