Cardiac Development

Tbx5+ cells labeled at E7.5 and observed at E14.5 for mTmG, whole mount on the left, vibratome section on the right.

Tbx5-CreER; R26-lacZ cells labeled at E6.5 and observed at E10.5 contribute to left ventricle and atria.

Frozen sections of a E14.5 Tbx5-CreER/+; R26-EYFP heart pulsed at E6.5 and stained with CD31 (red), DAPI (blue), and GFP (green)

A confocal stack of the septum of an E14.5 Tbx5-CreER/+; R26-mTmG/+ heart pulsed at E7.5 with tamoxifen.

Currently our interest is focused on understanding how cell fates are specified in the embryonic mouse heart, both in normal and developmentally compromised genetic backgrounds. Specifically our interest lies in determining how the septum is formed, and how different lineages (the presumptive first heart field and second heart field) interact from cardiac crescent formation to the completion of ventricular septation.