Vasanth Vedantham, MD, PhD
Research Summary:
Development and function of the cardiac conduction system; molecular regulation of cardiac pacemaker cells; mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias Our lab is focused on cardiac pacemaker cells, specialized cardiomyocytes whose autonomous electrical activity allows the sinoatrial node to serve as the heart’s natural pacemaker. Specific questions include: How are pacemaker cells different from regular heart cells at the level of gene expression and regulation? How does their unique gene expression signature confer their distinctive electrophysiological properties? How have selection pressures generated functional differences in pacemaker cells among different vertebrate species? What are the molecular mechanisms that guide pacemaker cells to integrate electrically with the rest of the heart to form a node? How do pacemaker cell biology and function change in response to physiological and pathological stress? What is the mechanistic link between sinus node dysfunction and atrial fibrillation? Our approaches include mouse genetics, whole-animal and ex-vivo electrophysiology, cellular and molecular electrophysiology, gene expression analysis, and bioinformatics. Ultimately, we hope to design novel treatments for patients suffering from heart rhythm disorders, including sinus node dysfunction and atrial fibrillation.