Caitlin O'Meara, PhD

Assistant Professor

Locations

Cardiovascular Center

Contact Information

Research Interests

Higher organisms such as zebrafish and neonatal mice are capable of complete heart regeneration following partial amputation. Although adult humans and adult mice lack this regeneration response, there is great interest in understanding how heart regeneration can occur so that we can activate this process in humans to better treat patients following myocardial infarction. My research is focused on understanding the cell biology of heart regeneration and cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity.

Zebrafish and neonatal mouse heart regeneration is thought to occur primarily by proliferation of resident cardiomyocytes whereby myocytes revert to a less differentiated state, disassemble sarcomere structures and re-enter a proliferative state. One project in my lab focuses on understanding the extracellular cues that stimulate cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity. In preliminary studies we found that the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin 13 (IL13) is a regulator of differentially expressed gene networks during neonatal mouse heart regeneration and stimulates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity in vitro. We are investigating the role of IL13 in heart regeneration in vivo by genetic ablation of IL13 and exogenous delivery of recombinant IL13 in neonatal regeneration models and adult myocardial infarction models. Furthermore, we are investigating downstream signaling networks that mediate cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity. Novel mediators identified in our studies can be targeted as a translational approach for stimulating heart regeneration in the future.

My lab is also interested in understanding the role of inflammation in heart regeneration and adult myocardial infarction. We use the rat, mouse, and zebrafish models to investigate inflammatory cell polarization in the context of heart injury.

This work is supported in part by an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant (17SDG33370061).

Yap is required for scar formation but not myocyte proliferation during heart regeneration in zebrafish.

(Flinn MA, Jeffery BE, O'Meara CC, Link BA.) Cardiovasc Res. 2019 Mar 01;115(3):570-577.
Soluble interleukin-13rα1: a circulating regulator of glucose.

(Rachmin I, O'Meara CC, Ricci-Blair EM, Feng Y, Christensen EM, Duffy JF, Zitting KM, Czeisler CA, Pancoast JR, Cannon CP, O'Donoghue ML, Morrow DA, Lee RT.) Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2017 12 01;313(6):E663-E671.
Nerves Regulate Cardiomyocyte Proliferation and Heart Regeneration.

(Mahmoud AI, O'Meara CC, Gemberling M, Zhao L, Bryant DM, Zheng R, Gannon JB, Cai L, Choi WY, Egnaczyk GF, Burns CE, Burns CG, MacRae CA, Poss KD, Lee RT.) Dev Cell. 2015 Aug 24;34(4):387-99.
Peering Into the Cardiomyocyte Nuclear Epigenetic State.

(O'Meara CC, Lee RT.) Circ Res. 2015 Aug 14;117(5):392-4.
Cardiac myosin binding protein C regulates postnatal myocyte cytokinesis.

(Jiang J, Burgon PG, Wakimoto H, Onoue K, Gorham JM, O'Meara CC, Fomovsky G, McConnell BK, Lee RT, Seidman JG, Seidman CE.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jul 21;112(29):9046-51.
Response to Comment to the article 'A systematic analysis of neonatal mouse heart regeneration after apical resection'.

(Bryant DM, O'Meara CC, Ho NN, Gannon J, Cai L, Lee RT.) J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 May;82:184-5.
SH2B3 Is a Genetic Determinant of Cardiac Inflammation and Fibrosis.

(Flister MJ, Hoffman MJ, Lemke A, Prisco SZ, Rudemiller N, O'Meara CC, Tsaih SW, Moreno C, Geurts AM, Lazar J, Adhikari N, Hall JL, Jacob HJ.) Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2015 Apr;8(2):294-304.
Transcriptional reversion of cardiac myocyte fate during mammalian cardiac regeneration.

(O'Meara CC, Wamstad JA, Gladstone RA, Fomovsky GM, Butty VL, Shrikumar A, Gannon JB, Boyer LA, Lee RT.) Circ Res. 2015 Feb 27;116(5):804-15.
A systematic analysis of neonatal mouse heart regeneration after apical resection.

(Bryant DM, O'Meara CC, Ho NN, Gannon J, Cai L, Lee RT.) J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 Feb;79:315-8.
Shroom3 contributes to the maintenance of the glomerular filtration barrier integrity.

(Yeo NC, O'Meara CC, Bonomo JA, Veth KN, Tomar R, Flister MJ, Drummond IA, Bowden DW, Freedman BI, Lazar J, Link BA, Jacob HJ.) Genome Res. 2015 Jan;25(1):57-65.
Identifying multiple causative genes at a single GWAS locus.

(Flister MJ, Tsaih SW, O'Meara CC, Endres B, Hoffman MJ, Geurts AM, Dwinell MR, Lazar J, Jacob HJ, Moreno C.) Genome Res. 2013 Dec;23(12):1996-2002.
SORCS1 contributes to the development of renal disease in rats and humans.

(Lazar J, O'Meara CC, Sarkis AB, Prisco SZ, Xu H, Fox CS, Chen MH, Broeckel U, Arnett DK, Moreno C, Provoost AP, Jacob HJ.) Physiol Genomics. 2013 Aug 15;45(16):720-8.

Caitlin O'Meara, PhD