Dr. Heather Evans-Anderson, Assistant Professor
The Role of FOX01 in Cardiac Myocyte Proliferation
During heart development, the proliferation of cardiac myocytes plays a critical role in both normal and aberrant
heart development. Endothelial cells are also important to the development of a functional heart. Endothelial
cells affect cardiac myocyte proliferation via cell signaling between the myocardium and the endocardium lining
the ventricular chambers. Disruption in the function of endothelial cells negatively affects the proliferation of
cardiac myoctyes, which leads to dysfunction and abnormal morphology of the developing heart. Fox01 is a
member of a subclass of the Forkhead genes, which encode for transcription factors involved in proliferation,
apoptosis, and cell cycle regulation. In endothelial cells, Fox01 controls excessive endothelial cell growth and
creates a balance between proliferation and apoptosis. Deletion of Fox01 disrupts endothelial cell function and
our hypothesis is that loss of Fox01 also causes cardiac myocyte proliferation defects. Transgenic mice have
been generated in which Fox01 was deleted from the endothelial cells by crossing FOXO1/loxp mice with
+/+
-/Tie2/Cre mice. Comparison of the morphology and histology of Tie2Cre /FOXO1 embryos at embryonic day
10.5, revealed that the absence of Fox01 resulted in embryonic lethality and demonstrated such symptoms as
growth retardation, pericardial edema, and a poorly formed vasculature. Currently our lab is working on the
characterization of these embryos and their myocardial defects. Future directions include identification and
isolation of FOXO1 in Ciona intestinalis, to study the impact of FOXO1 genes in the development of hearts of
primitive chordates.
Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research Students:
Katie Wessinger - SURE, summer 2008
Lindsey Sherria Johnson - SURE, summer 2009 and BIOL 471
Sabahat Khanum - SURE, summer 2009
Mary Faith Encarnacion - BIOL 471
Hannah Floyd - BIOL 471
Kim Sauls - BIOL 471
James Tucker - SURE, summer 2010 and BIOL 471/472
John Samies - SURE, summer 2010 and BIOL 471/472
Faculty Mentored Graduate Research Students:
Elizabeth Green - fall 2008
Identification of FOXO1 in Ciona intestinalis and characterization of role in heart development