Ep. 165: “Tackling Heart Disease” Featuring Dr. Deepak Srivastava

Guest:

Among his many appointments, Dr. Deepak Srivastava is the President of the Gladstone Institutes and the International Society for Stem Cell Research, and co-founder of Tenaya Therapeutics. His lab investigates the gene networks that guide cardiogenesis by developing models of heart disease using patient-derived iPSCs and CRISPR technology.

Featured Products and Resources:

• Webinar: Modeling Arrhythmias Using hPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Tracking Their Excitability
• STEMdiff™ Cardiomyocyte Media

The Stem Cell Science Round Up

Reconstructing the Human Developmental Clock – By using iPSCs to mimic signaling pathways active during early development, scientists have reconstructed the human segmentation clock to model somitogenesis.

Transition from Progenitor to Mature Adipocyte – Investigators have shown that platelet-derived growth factor receptors, which are markers of adipocyte progenitors, are cell-autonomous inhibitors of adipocyte differentiation.

Exploiting Vulnerabilities in Pancreatic Cancer – A senescence-inducing therapy has been shown to sensitize therapy-resistant pancreatic tumors to checkpoint blockade drugs by causing vascular remodeling.

Lessons in Graft Remodeling – Combining a clinical trial, computational studies and a sheep model, researchers have found that stenosis caused by tissue-engineered vascular grafts could resolve spontaneously, and provides insight for future graft design.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Deepak Srivastava