The Joseph Moore Laboratory of Cardiac Extracellular Matrix

About

Our laboratory focuses on understanding the fundamental biology of the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) and its complex role in cardiovascular health and disease. The cardiac ECM not only supports the heart’s three-dimensional structure and organizes its diverse cellular components but also serves as a pivotal signaling hub, enabling dynamic communication between the cardiac stroma and parenchyma. Despite its critical role, our knowledge of this communication and its importance in cardiac development and disease processes remains limited. This gap highlights the laboratory’s main goals: uncovering new ECM-mediated biological processes, mapping the signaling networks involved in cardiac development, stress responses, and heart failure, and studying how ECM structural changes impact cardiac function. Ultimately, the lab aims to identify ECM-centered processes that could be targeted for therapeutic intervention in heart failure, with the potential to reshape treatment approaches and improve patient outcomes.

Key Research Areas

Unraveling the Role of Extracellular Matrix in Cardiovascular Cell Communication and Heart Health
Transforming Cardiac Structure and Function Through ECM Composition and Architecture
Targeting ECM Dynamics for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration

Recent Publications

Nguyen, D. C., Wells, C. K., Taylor, M. S., Martinez-Ondaro, Y., Brittian, K. R., Brainard, R. E., Moore, J. B., IV, & Hill, B. G. (2025). Dietary branched chain amino acids modify post-infarct cardiac remodeling and function in the murine heart. Journal of the American Heart Association, 14(4), e037637. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39950451/
Wells, C. K., Nguyen, D. C., Brainard, R. E., McNally, L. A., De Silva, M., Brittian, K. R., Garrett, L., Taylor, M. S., Martinez-Ondaro, Y., Howard, C., Suluru, S., Dassanayaka, S., Mohamed, T. M. A., Singhal, R., Gibb, A. A., Lorkiewicz, P. K., Moore, J. B., IV, Jones, S. P., & Hill, B. G. (2025). Pyruvate kinase splice variants in fibroblasts influence cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction in male mice. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 206, 11–26. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40651593/
Goody, P. R., Christmann, D., Goody, D., Hildebrand, S., Billig, H., Nehl, D., Chennupati, R., Gladka, M., Wilhelm-Jüngling, K., Uchida, S., Iris-Bibli, S., Moore, J. B., IV, Hamdani, N., Paneni, F., Pullamsetti, S. S., Zimmer, S., Jansen, F., Bakhtiary, F., Aikawa, E., Pfeifer, A., Nickenig, G., & Hosen, M. R. (2025). Calcific aortic valve disease augments vesicular microRNA-145-5p to regulate the calcification of valvular interstitial cells via cellular crosstalk. Basic Research in Cardiology, 120(5), 991–1010. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40847220/
Little, D. T., Brittian, K. R., Howard, C., Pendergraft, E., Colley, C., Chen, N., Yamaguchi, Y., Singhal, R., Moore, J. B., IV, Wysoczynski, M., Nong, Y., & Jones, S. P. (2025). Fibroblast Has2 limits acute heart failure following myocardial infarction in male mice. Physiological Reports, 13(22), e70611. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41250926/
Singhal, R., Ferrari, I., Brainard, R. E., Brittian, K. R., Chariker, J., Collins, H. E., Moore, J. B., IV, Nong, Y., & Jones, S. P. (2025). Temporal dynamics in murine cardiac transcriptome following myocardial infarction. Circulation Research, 138(2), e327367. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41410034/
Fischer, A. G., Elliott, E. M., Brittian, K. R., Garrett, L., Sadri, G., Aebersold, J., Singhal, R. A., Nong, Y., Leask, A., Jones, S. P., & Moore, J. B., IV. (2024). Matricellular protein CCN1 promotes collagen alignment and scar integrity after myocardial infarction. Matrix Biology, 133, 14–32.
Sadri, G., Fischer, A. G., Brittian, K. R., Elliott, E. M., Nystoriak, M. A., Uchida, S., Wysoczynski, M., Leask, A., Jones, S. P., & Moore, J. B., IV. (2022). Collagen type XIX regulates cardiac extracellular matrix structure and ventricular function. Matrix Biology, 109, 49–69.
Sansbury, B. E., Nystoriak, M. A., Uchida, S., Wysoczynski, M., & Moore, J. B., IV. (2022). Rigor me this: What are the basic criteria for a rigorous, transparent, and reproducible scientific study? Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 9, 914612.
Hosen, R. M., Goody, P. R., Zietzer, A., Xiang, X., Niepmann, S. T., Sedaghat, A., Tiyerili, V., Chennupati, R., Moore, J. B., IV, Boon, R. A., Uchida, S., Sinning, J., Zimmer, S., Latz, E., Werner, N., Nickenig, G., & Jansen, F. (2022). Circulating microRNA-122-5p is associated with a lack of improvement in left ventricular function after transcatheter aortic valve replacement and regulates viability of cardiomyocytes through extracellular vesicles. Circulation, 146(24), 1836–1854.
Moore, J. B., IV, & Wysoczynski, M. (2021). Immunomodulatory effects of cell therapy after myocardial infarction. Journal of Cellular Immunology, 3(2), 85–90.
Ohanyan, V., Raph, S. M., Dwenger, M. M., Hu, X., Pucci, T., Mack, G., Moore, J. B., IV, Chilian, W. M., Bhatnagar, A., & Nystoriak, M. A. (2021). Myocardial blood flow control by oxygen sensing vascular Kvβ proteins. Circulation Research, 128(3), e1–e15.
Heidel, J. S., Fischer, A. G., Tang, X. L., Sadri, G., Wu, W. J., Moisa, C. R., Stowers, H., Sandella, N., Wysoczynski, M., Uchida, S., & Moore, J. B., IV. (2020). The effect of cardiogenic factors on cardiac mesenchymal cell anti-fibrogenic paracrine signaling and therapeutic performance. Theranostics, 10(4), 1514–1530.
Moore, J. B., IV, Sadri, G., Fischer, A. G., Weirick, T., Militello, G., Wysoczynski, M., Gumpert, A. M., Braun, T., & Uchida, S. (2020). The A-to-I RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 is essential for normal embryonic cardiac growth and development. Circulation Research, 127(4), 550–552.