Assistant Researcher at Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS, Universidade do Porto, Porto) and at Instituto de Investigação e Invovação em Saúde, PORTUGAL
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 | 12:00 noon – ICGEB Trieste, ITALY
Bearing my heart: the role of extracellular matrix on cardiac injury response
Host: S. Zacchigna
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential component of the heart that regulates fundamental cellular processes during organ development, homeostasis and disease. The adult mammalian heart has negligible regenerative capacity and reacts to stress and injury by readily remodelling the ECM, forming a collagen-rich scar (a.k.a fibrosis) that can become pathological and lead to aberrant scarring, organ damage and functional impairment. On the other end, pro-regenerative effects have been attributed to ECM components more abundant during development. In fact, the composition of the cardiac ECM changes significantly in a short period after birth, concurrent with the loss of cardiac regenerative capacity. This highlights the importance of understanding ECM composition and function headed for the development of more efficient therapies.
DS Nascimento is interested in exploring the impact of ECM on cardiac cells and unveiling deeper insights on cell–ECM interactions throughout heart ontogeny and disease, toward the design of new regenerative strategies.
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