The Lyons Laboratory
Faculty > Gary E. Lyons
Gary E. Lyons
Associate Professor, Anatomy/Pediatrics
gelyons@facstaff.wisc.edu
Organ System/Disease Focus
Cardiovascular system, cardiovascular disease, acute and chronic heart disease
Aligned Research Focus
Tissue engineering of myocardium, identification and characterization of cardiac stem cells
Research Description
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Embryonic and adult stem cells hold the promise of being able to restore normal function to diseased organs such as the heart. Prior to use in humans, stem cell-based organ regeneration must be tested in animal models. In collaboration with the lab of Timothy Kamp, M.D., Ph.D., my lab is studying the potential of mouse embryonic (ES) cells and ES cell-derived cardiac progenitors to repopulate the heart following myocardial infarction.
We have found that ES cells and their derivatives can regenerate cardiac muscle and the two elements of arteries, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, in the absence of an immune response or teratoma formation. In vitro models of stem cell-derived tissues such as cardiac muscle help us understand the basic biology of stem cell differentiation and provide a valuable mechanism for pharmacological testing on human tissues.
In collaboration with the lab of William Murphy, Ph.D., we are creating an in vitro 3-D culture model of the embryonic heart using ES cell-derived cardiac myocytes.
Selected References
Singla DK, Hacker TA, Ma L, Douglas PS, Sullivan R, Lyons GE, Kamp TJ. Transplantation of embryonic stem cells into the infarcted mouse heart: Formation of Multiple Cell Types, J Mol Cell Cardiol. 40:195-200. 2006.
Singla DK, Lyons GE, Kamp TJ. Transplanted Embryonic Stem Cells Following Mouse Myocardial Infarction Inhibit Apoptosis and Cardiac Remodeling, Am J Physiol: Heart and Circulatory Physiology 293(2):H1308-14. 2007.