The adult heart contains resident mesenchymal stem cells capable of regenerating damaged cardiac tissue. Our group is interested in the clinical use of isolated stem-cell populations to treat heart disease and in the contribution of aberrant mesenchymal precursor migration to the cardiovascular complications associated with obesity.

The bulk of the experimental work in our lab is conducted with mesenchymal precursor lines isolated from the heart tissue of adult mice, pigs and human patients. These cells can differentiate into cardiomyocytes and have demonstrated ability to regenerate cardiac tissue in animal models of myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease.

Evidence from ob/ob mice (which become obese due to the inactivity of the leptin gene) indicates that obesity diverts mesenchymal precursor migration to adipose tissue, a phenomenon called adipotaxis. This misdirected migration contributes to the obesity-associated risk of heart disease, stroke, arterial hypertension, type II diabetes and some forms of cancer. Our work in this area has led to the development of protocols for screening anti-obesity compounds, and we are studying the migratory properties of these cells in order to improve cardiac stem cell therapy.