Abstract

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect in humans, affecting up to 1:100 pregnancies. Children born with congenital heart defects often suffer significant morbidity and mortality. Our understanding of the molecular basis of heart development has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. Proper patterning of the heart results from a complex series of signaling events and tissue interactions. Neural crest cells are critical for both cardiovascular and craniofacial development. Many human syndromes demonstrate combinations of defects in these two areas. Preliminary data generated by our lab suggests that Fgf signaling plays a critical role in neural crest development and alterations of these signals result in craniofacial and cardiac defects. Using recently developed genetic techniques such as the Cre/LoxP system, we propose to study the role of Fgf signaling on neural crest development in the mouse.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD042803-05
Application #
7070004
Study Section
Cell Development and Function Integrated Review Group (CDF)
Program Officer
Henken, Deborah B
Project Start
2002-07-01
Project End
2008-06-30
Budget Start
2006-07-01
Budget End
2008-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$304,521
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Duke University
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
044387793
City
Durham
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27705

  Publications

Goddeeris, Matthew M; Rho, Silvia; Petiet, Alexandra et al. (2008) Intracardiac septation requires hedgehog-dependent cellular contributions from outside the heart. Development 135:1887-95
Petiet, Alexandra E; Kaufman, Matthew H; Goddeeris, Matthew M et al. (2008) High-resolution magnetic resonance histology of the embryonic and neonatal mouse: a 4D atlas and morphologic database. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:12331-6
Opdahl, S; Nilsen, T I L; Romundstad, P R et al. (2008) Association of size at birth with adolescent hormone levels, body size and age at menarche: relevance for breast cancer risk. Br J Cancer 99:201-6
Skranes, Jon; Evensen, Karianne Indredavik; Lohaugen, Gro C et al. (2008) Abnormal cerebral MRI findings and neuroimpairments in very low birth weight (VLBW) adolescents. Eur J Paediatr Neurol 12:273-83
Lindqvist, Susanne; Vik, Torstein; Indredavik, Marit S et al. (2007) Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, peripheral vision and refraction in low birthweight teenagers. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 85:157-64
Bergsjo, Per; Bakketeig, Leiv S; Lindmark, Gunilla (2007) Maternal smoking does not affect fetal size as measured in the mid-second trimester. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 86:156-60
Skranes, J; Vangberg, T R; Kulseng, S et al. (2007) Clinical findings and white matter abnormalities seen on diffusion tensor imaging in adolescents with very low birth weight. Brain 130:654-66
Indredavik, Marit S; Brubakk, Ann-Mari; Romundstad, Pal et al. (2007) Prenatal smoking exposure and psychiatric symptoms in adolescence. Acta Paediatr 96:377-82
Evensen, Kari Anne Indredavik; Sigmundsson, Hermundur; Romundstad, Pal et al. (2007) Inter- and intra-modal matching in very low birth weight and small for gestational age adolescents. Early Hum Dev 83:19-27
Ilagan, Roger; Abu-Issa, Radwan; Brown, Doris et al. (2006) Fgf8 is required for anterior heart field development. Development 133:2435-45

Showing the most recent 10 out of 57 publications