Tissue specific analysis of the zebrafish heart regeneration response.

• Applicant: Dr. Sven Reischauer
• Subject Area: Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2010 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 186133941

The European Union alone, heart dysfunction causes 2 million deaths annually and is by 48% the most prevalent cause of death. The main reason for pathologic heart conditions is the permanent loss of cardiomyocytes which the human heart, like any mammalian heart, fails to compensate. Recent data however suggest that the adult human myocardium is not postmitotic per se, but is unable to fully activate this potential after damage. In contrast, the zebrafish heart shows complete epimorphic regeneration even after partial ventricular resection. Intriguingly, zebrafish heart regeneration has been shown to resemble a concerted process, relying on extensive cross communication between all cardiac layers (epicardium, myocardium, endocardium). However, the detailed analysis of this phenomenon has so far been limited by the techniques utilized. I intend to use recently developed techniques to dissect instructive and permissive signals involved in zebrafish heart regeneration. I will use cell type specific cell ablation and labeling systems to understand the dedicated function of the distinct cardiac tissue types during regeneration. Additionally, I plan to dissect the involved pathways using a candidate based loss of function approach. I further intend to develop a new transgenic technique that will allow the detailed analysis of cardiac regeneration on a cellular and subcellular level. Taken together, this work will help to understand the complex process of epimorphic heart regeneration in zebrafish and help to develop new approaches to circumvent the limitations of cardiac repair in mammals.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Didier Y. Stainier, Ph.D.