Cardiac Structure and Function Laboratory

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About 

We are a collaborative group of experienced staff members and energetic trainees. The group is led by Dr. Steven Jones, who is an expert in ventricular remodeling and integrative physiology. This team is uncovering the cellular composition of the heart, and is understanding how such composition changes during disease and across lifespan. In all such endeavors, the Laboratory invokes a multidisciplinary approach to answer important questions. We have a long history of NIH and AHA funding to support our work. Our group also provides a fertile environment for trainees to gain the necessary experience and guidance to become independent investigators; this is evident in their publications and receipt of national fellowships. This lab or one of the other dozen laboratories in our Center is usually open to new MD/PhD or PhD students interested in the cardiovascular system. 

Team 

Our Work

  • Basically, anything in the heart, especially... 
  • HEART FAILURE 
  • METABOLISM: How do specific metabolic cues regulate cardiac structure and function? We are interested in cardiac muscle cells, vascular cells, and support cells (fibroblasts). 
  • INFLAMMATION: How do leukocytes interact with the extracellular matrix during heart failure? 
  • FIBROSIS: What biomechanics changes occur during heart failure and how are such changes regulated? 
  • EXERCISE AND THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM: What are the structural and functional consequences of physical activity on the heart? How does physical activity alter cell function in the heart? How can insights from physical activity be applied to the failing heart? Can physical activity be used as an intervention in heart failure? 
  • Heart-kidney interactions (cardiorenal syndrome) 
  • Heart-liver interactions 
  • Cardiovascular aging 
  • Risk factors (such as diabetes) in the development of disease 
  • Matricellular protein CCN1 promotes collagen alignment and scar integrity after myocardial infarction. A. G. Fischer, E. M. Elliott, K. R. Brittian, L. Garrett, G. Sadri, J. Aebersold, R. A. Singhal, Y. Nong, A. Leask, S. P. Jones, J. B. Moore IV. Matrix Biol, vol. 133, 2024, pp. 14–32 
  • Investigating the effects of long-term Aroclor 1260 exposure on fatty liver disease in a diet-induced obesity mouse model. Kimberly Z Head, Oluwanifemi E Bolatimi, Tyler C Gripshover, Min Tan, Yan Li, Timothy N Audam, Steven P Jones, Carolyn M Klinge, Matthew C Cave, Banrida Wahlang. Front Gastroenterol (Lausanne), vol. 2, 2023, p. 1180712 
  • Influence of biological sex and exercise on murine cardiac metabolism. Kyle Fulghum, Helen E. Collins, Steven P. Jones, Bradford G. Hill. J Sport Health Sci, vol. 11(4), 2022, pp. 479–494 
  • Metabolic signatures of pregnancy-induced cardiac growth. Kyle L. Fulghum, Juliette B. Smith, Julia Chariker, Lauren F. Garrett, Kenneth R. Brittian, Pawel K. Lorkiewicz, Lindsey A. McNally, Shizuka Uchida, Steven P. Jones, Bradford G. Hill, Helen E. Collins. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, vol. 323(1), 2022, pp. H146–H164 
  • Collagen type XIX regulates cardiac extracellular matrix structure and ventricular function. Ghazal Sadri, Annalara G. Fischer, Kenneth R. Brittian, Erin Elliott, Matthew A. Nystoriak, Shizuka Uchida, Marcin Wysoczynski, Andrew Leask, Steven P. Jones, Joseph B. Moore. Matrix Biology, vol. 109, Elsevier {BV}, 2022 May, pp. 49–69 
  • Guidelines for in vivo mouse models of myocardial infarction. Merry L Lindsey, Keith R Brunt, Jonathan A Kirk, Petra Kleinbongard, John W Calvert, Lisandra E de Castro Bras, Kristine Y DeLeon-Pennell, Dominic P Del Re, Nikolaos G Frangogiannis, Stefan Frantz, Richard J Gumina, Ganesh V Halade, Steven P Jones, Rebecca H Ritchie, Francis G Spinale, Edward B Thorp, Crystal M Ripplinger, Zamaneh Kassiri. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol., vol. 321, American Physiological Society, 2021 Dec, pp. H1056–H1073 
  • Chronic benzene exposure aggravates pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction. Igor N Zelko, Sujith Dassanayaka, Marina V Malovichko, Caitlin M Howard, Lauren F Garrett, Shizuka Uchida, Kenneth R Brittian, Daniel J Conklin, Steven P Jones, Sanjay Srivastava. Toxicol. Sci., vol. 185, Oxford University Press (OUP), 2021 Dec, pp. 64–76 
  • Cardiac PANK1 deletion exacerbates ventricular dysfunction during pressure overload. Timothy N Audam, Caitlin M Howard, Lauren F Garrett, Yi Wei Zheng, James A Bradley, Kenneth R Brittian, Matthew W Frank, Kyle L Fulghum, Miklos Polos, Szilvia Herczeg, Bela Merkely, Tamas Radovits, Shizuka Uchida, Bradford G Hill, Sujith Dassanayaka, Suzanne Jackowski, Steven P Jones. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol., vol. 321, American Physiological Society, 2021 Oct, pp. H784–H797 
  • Angiotensinogen takes some of the spotlight from angiotensin II in the cardiohepatic axis. Steven P Jones. Circ. Res., vol. 129, 2021 Aug, pp. 565–567 
  • The sweet smell of progress with hyaluronan and heart failure. Pilar Alcaide, Steven P Jones. Hypertension, vol. 77, Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 2021 Jun, pp. 1928–1930 
  • Cardiac mesenchymal cells from failing and nonfailing hearts limit ventricular dilation when administered late after infarction. Timothy N Audam, Yibing Nong, Alex Tomlin, Andrea Jurkovic, Hong Li, Xiaoping Zhu, Bethany W Long, Yi Wei Zheng, Tyler Weirick, Kenneth R Brittian, Daniel W Riggs, Anna Gumpert, Shizuka Uchida, Yiru Guo, Marcin Wysoczynski, Steven P Jones. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol., vol. 319, American Physiological Society, 2020 Jul, pp. H109–H122 
  • A new framework for performing cardiac strain analysis from cine MRI imaging in mice. K Hammouda, F Khalifa, H Abdeltawab, A Elnakib, G A Giridharan, M Zhu, C K Ng, S Dassanayaka, M Kong, H E Darwish, T M A Mohamed, S P Jones, A El-Baz. Sci. Rep., vol. 10, 2020 May, p. 7725 

Cardiac Structure and Function Laboratory

School of Medicine

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Delia Baxter Building, 3rd Floor

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