PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Nenad
Bursac, PhD
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here to see CV
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES
Lisa
Satterwhite, PhD
My
research interests include...
lsatterwhite@nc.rr.com
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Nima
Badie, BS
I
am working to help bridge the gap between the structure and function
of 2D cardiomyocyte monolayers and that of an actual 3D heart. Using
data obtained by from an intact heart with diffusion tensor magnetic
resonance imaging (DTMRI), general fiber directions and patterns
can be extracted for any cross-section. Using these same patterns
to guide the growth and positioning of cultured cardiomyocytes,
we hope to culture a 2D monolayer that resembles the projected cross-section
of the native tissue in both structure and function.
nima.badie@duke.edu
Weining
Bian, MS
I
studied the role of structure factors on initiation of reentrant
arrhythmias in patterned monolayer cultures of cardiac cells in
my previous master thesis project conducted in the Cardiac Bioelectric
Systems lab at Johns Hopkins University. I joined Bursac's group
at Duke for PhD study. My future research will focus on design and
optimization of a novel multilayer culture system using a cell/gel
micropatterning approach, which provides an engineered 3D tissue
microenvironment for cell alignment and growth that is expected
to promote maintenance of native cardiac phenotype in vitro. Systematic
studies on gene and protein expression, cell morphology, tissue
architecture and electrophysiological properties will be conducted
on this novel culture system in comparison with the common 2D monolayer
cultures. Computational simulations will also be carried out to
interpret experimental results.
wb9@duke.edu
Sara
Hinds, BS
My research interests
include...
sara.hinds@duke.edu
Rob Kirkton,
BS
My
research interests involve the molecular mechanisms and cellular
components that influence the mechanical and electrical properties
of cardiac cells. Through the functional expression of cardiac ion
channels within myocyte and fibroblast networks, I hope to identify
specific ionic properties that can alter electrical function and
dysfunction in cardiac tissues. These studies will provide further
insights into the molecular determinants of arrhythmogenesis and
the potential to genetically modify the structural and functional
properties in diseased cardiac tissue for therapeutic purposes.
rdk@duke.edu
Rebecca
Klinger, BS
The non-proliferative nature of adult cardiomyocytes precludes the
possibility of endogenous repair of the heart muscle following a
myocardial infarction. Additionally, there are currently no definitive
therapies to improve or prevent deterioration of cardiac function
following an infarction. Cellular cardiomyoplasty has met with limited
success and has the potential to be arrhythmogenic. My efforts focus
on the creation of an engineered 3-D cardiac "tissue"
with native cellular orientation, electrical propagation, and mechanical
contraction. Cardiac constructs will be cultured in a novel bioreactor
that delivers mechanical impulses to neonatal rat cardiomyocytes
in hydrogel scaffolds. These cardiac constructs can be used to study
various pathological states in vitro and may have potential therapeutic
applications in the future.
kling004@mc.duke.edu
Brian
Liau, BS
My research if focused on ...
brian.liau@duke.edu
Luke
McSpadden, BS
My research
is focused on understanding the effect of heterogeneities on electrical
conduction in cardiac tissue. It is known that fibrosis of the heart
creates a heterogeneous substrate which is prone to arrhythmia.
I model this in vitro by creating cardiac monolayers with structural
or cellular heterogeneities. Using voltage sensitive dyes and a
504 channel photodiode array, I am able to study the propagation
of electrical signals through the monolayers. This allows me to
understand how different heterogeneities affect conduction velocity,
action potential duration, and reentry formation.
lcm12@duke.edu
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
BURSAC LAB ALUMNI
Leigh
Booth
The
alpha-7-beta-1 integrin and dystrophin are both associated with
force
transmission in muscle cells. In my work, immunofluorescent staining
was used
to try to evaluate the expression of the alpha-7 integrin and dystrophin
in
C2C12 cells and rat primary skeletal myoblasts.
lnb3@duke.edu
Avery
Capone, BS
I
used computer modeling to study the role of restitution properties
on dynamics of functional reentry. The CardioWave software, designed
by John Pormann, is currently being used to study 1D and 2D cardiac
tissue models.
acc14@duke.edu
Jake Gillen,
BS
I
investigated the effects of different extracellular proteins on
cellular protein expression and electrical properties used for cardiac
cell cultures.
jrg12@duke.edu
Farokh
Irani, BS
My
work dealt with the isolation and culturing of adult rat cardiac
cells. While aniostropic, confluent cultures have been made using
neonatal cardiomyocytes, this has not been done with adult cells.
Using various digestion and plating techniques, including microfabriaction
approaches, I worked to engineer confluent anisotropic cultures
of adult cells . These would be used as an in-vitro model for the
study of adult cardiac electrophysiology.
farokh.irani@duke.edu
Arun Iyer, BS
I worked to design a force-measuring device for 3D cell networks.
ami21@duke.edu
Ara
Kardashian, BS
I
worked to optimize the fluorescent staining and image acquisition
of cytoskeleton and gap junction proteins.
ara.kardashian@duke.edu
Kevin
Ko, BS
I
investigated cocultures of cardiac and other cells for design of
different models for cardiac fibrosis and cardiomyoplasty therapies.
jiawei.ko@duke.edu
Melissa
Latorre, BS
My research
involved gene therapy in cardiac tissue engineering. I assisted
Rob with his
research by working on methods for ion channel gene expression in
cardiac and non-cardiac cells.
melissa.latorre@duke.edu
Dawn
Pedrotty, PhD
Cellular
cardiomyoplasty involves the transplantation of donor cells into
injured myocardium to improve compromised cardiac function. Current
clinical trials of cellular cardiomyoplasty utilize bone marrow
derived stem cells and skeletal myoblasts as two possible donor
cell types. How particular donor cells interact with, and possibly
alter, the electro-mechanical function of host cardiac tissue remains
poorly understood. Therefore, the main goal of this research was
to elucidate the mechanisms of possible interactions between the
donor cells and host cardiomyocytes under well-defined in vitro
conditions and to systematically examine the role that these interactions
play in electrical functioning of a cardiac network.
First
we used micropatterned cocultures of cardiomyocytes and different
types of donor cells. Optical mapping of membrane potentials was
performed to determine if, and under what conditions, can donor
cells support impulse propagation within the cardiac network. Second,
we studied the effects of paracrine signaling on the ability of
host and donor cells to electromechanically connect and propagate
action potentials using host or donor cell conditioned media.
dmp10@duke.edu
James
Scull, MS
I
constructed an automated system for analyzing cardiomyocyte monolayers
incorporating optics, electronics, software, and cellular methods.
jscull@duke.edu
Sean
Timpane, BS
I
worked to design an optical system for simultaneous voltage and
calcium optical mapping in cardiac monolayers.
sean.timpane@duke.edu
Joseph
Tranquillo, PhD
I worked on several projects. 1) Developing in silico monolayers
that mimic the structure and function of experimental monolayers,
2) Theoretical and computational analysis of reentrant spiral rates
and the initiation of multi-armed spirals, 3) Software filtering
and analysis of experimental data, and 4) Theoretical interactions
of between cardiac and non-cardiac cells.
jvt002@bucknell.edu
Mimi
Wachendorf, BS
I isolated and digested adult cardiac cells using a Langendorff
perfusion apparatus. After collecting the separated ventricular
and atrial cells, I plated them aiming for long-term viability.
My goal was to orient them into a 3D anisotropic culture to mimic
the structure of the adult human heart. For measuring cardiac integrity,
the cultures were subjected to immunostaining, Western Blots, and
optical mapping.
mtw4@duke.edu
Thomas
Wang, MS
My research interests primarily revolved around engineering and
characterizing 3D cardiac tissue constructs in vitro. Using a combination
of techniques ranging from microfabrication and soft lithography
to microfluidics, my goal was to grow novel multi-cellular cardiac
networks with thicknesses and widths on the order of 100 micron.
The underlying motivation of this work was to establish a more biologically-relevant
experimental model for study.
ttw2@duke.edu
Yaqing
Wen, BS
My research involved optimizing Western Blots.
yw12@duke.edu
Margaret
White, BS
In my project, I examined individual cell-to-cell interactions between
cardiac cells, fibroblasts, and mesenchymal stem cells. I also assisted
with Dawn's projects by helping her stain cell lines.
margaret.white@duke.edu
Roger
Yu
My research involved assisting Rob Kirkton in cloning
and expressing cardiac ion channels as well as performing various
molecular biology and protein assessment experiments.
yroger@email.unc.edu
