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The heart is the first organ to form during vertebrate development, and its formation requires precise and timely regulation of gene expression. The sarcomere, the fundamental contractile unit of muscle, is assembled through a highly complex process involving hundreds of genes that must be precisely coordinated and organized. Defects in these genes can lead to cardiomyopathies, which are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite extensive studies of sarcomere structure and function, the molecular mechanisms underlying sarcomere assembly remain incompletely understood.

One major challenge in studying human gene function and cardiac development has been the limited availability of human biological materials. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), have the capacity to differentiate into virtually any cell type, including cardiomyocytes, providing a powerful experimental platform for studying human development and disease.

Our laboratory primarily uses hPSCs to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying human heart development and cardiovascular diseases. Our current research focuses on:

1. Modeling cardiac development and disease using human pluripotent stem cells. We use patient-specific iPSCs and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to generate isogenic cell lines for studying cardiac development and establishing human disease models, including dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and glycogen storage disease (GSD).

2. Investigating the roles of non-coding RNAs in cardiac development and disease.
   We study the functions and regulatory mechanisms of non-coding RNAs, including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), in human heart development and cardiovascular diseases.

3. Investigating the roles of γ-tubulin protein complexes in neural differentiation and disease.
   We explore how γ-tubulin protein complexes contribute to neural differentiation and their potential involvement in disease.

 

Ultimately, our research aims to (1) understand the mechanisms underlying human heart development, (2) uncover the pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiac diseases, and (3) identify potential therapeutic strategies and drug candidates for these diseases.