Di Lang, Ph.D, MS
Research Interests:
Cardiac arrhythmias, sinoatrial node, calcium signaling, heart failure, stem cells, optical mapping
Summary:
Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of treated heart arrhythmia and is associated with the significant increase in the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. My research aims to understand the membrane nanodomain mediated compartmentalized cellular and molecular functioning and regulation of proteins in the atrial physiology and pathology and developing therapeutic strategies targeting the cell cytoarchitectures using animal models, primary cardiomyocytes and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Specifically, I explore the compartmentalized molecular mechanisms of heart rhythm disorders (cardiac arrhythmias) and heart failure from multiple levels: from protein expression, signaling pathway regulation, and sub-cellular localization, protein-protein interaction, to electrical impulse propagation and repolarization of an intact heart. I develop and utilize multiple quantitative cutting-edge high-resolution imaging techniques on tissue, cellular, and microdomain levels as well as develop image processing algorithms.