Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy

Research Area: Molecular biology of cardiac development

I am currently pursuing a doctoral degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Research in the Lough lab is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that guide proper cardiac formation and function. It is the ultimate goal of the lab to generate treatments for patients who have massive cardiac myocyte loss due to myocardial infarction. This is being done in two ways: (1) understanding what the mechanisms are that prevent cardiac myocytes from re-entering the cell cycle, and (2) injection of embryonic stem cells (ESC's) into infracted myocardium to facilitate remuscularization of the damaged myocardium.

My work is concerned with the former. I am specifically looking at the function of Tat-interactive Protein 60kd or Tip60 in the heart. Tip60 is a histone acetyltransferase whose functions include, but are not limited to, transcriptional co-regulation, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair and apoptosis. Using a murine model I am knocking out the Tip60 gene specifically in the heart to help elucidate its role in the developing myocardium. Using Chromatin Immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP) I am attempting to identify genes that are direct targets of Tip60 during cardiac development. Gene therapies that would allow cardiac myocytes to reenter the cell cycle could greatly improve the quality of life for patients who suffer cardiac infarctions.