Heart attacks and disease can lead to damaged heart tissue that cannot be repaired, replaced with scar tissue and often leading to heart failure. Using stem cells, damaged tissue could potentially be regenerated to restore heart function. Our research aims to understand how cells are organised in the heart after stem cell injection, to try and see how these new cells interact with the heart, and if any changes at the molecular level could provide a clue to successful regeneration.
reNEW research
In the Transcriptomics and Bioinformatics lab at reNEW Melbourne, we are interested in the coordinated activity of molecules, such as DNA, which controls how cells talk to themselves and each other, an important part of healthy organ growth. We are currently developing software that helps us analyse all of the molecular information within each cell across a whole organ in 3D! This will enable us to pinpoint when and where molecular changes occur as we grow, visualise groups of cells in space, and view effects on disease.
Image description
Spatial map of a rat heart with human iPSCs (white), each dot a cell, resembling the Great Barrier Reef’s Heart Reef.
Credits
Mei Du, Research Assistant, Ramialison lab, reNEW Melbourne.
