Professor Michael Schneider

Cardiopoiesis: Genetic networks for cardiac muscle creation by stem cells

Adult mammalian heart muscle is characterized by a meagre ability to restore cardiac muscle cell number and pump function following cardiac muscle cell death. For this reason, cardiac muscle cell number is especially well-posed as a therapeutic target in regenerative medicine (Mercola, Ruiz-Lozano & Schneider. Genes Dev 2011; 25:299-309). Work in our laboratory is focused in part on cardiac muscle creation by embryonic stem cells, to decipher the exact genetic circuits that guide initially pluripotent cells to a cardiac muscle fate. In addition, we investigate the latent stem cells in adult cardiac muscle itself, which resemble a forme fruste of the early cardiac mesoderm seen in embryos and embryoid bodies.  

Further information: http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/m.d.schneider/

Contact details:

Email: m.schneider@imperial.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 3027