Virginia Tech® home

In Person Special Seminar: Involvement of Non-canonical Inflammatory Response in Tissue Dysfunction of Several Chronic Diseases

Insert your title here

Your Text Here
David Crossman, Ph.D.

David Crossman, Ph.D.

Academic Director, Biomedical Research Imaging Unit
Senior Research Fellow, Heart Foundation of New Zealand
Cardiac Nanobiology Research Group
Department of Physiology
School of Medical Sciences
Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland
View Speaker Profile

In Person Seminar: Fibrosis and Aberrant Ca2+ Handling in the Failing Heart

Date: Feb. 15, 2024

Time:  11 a.m.

Download Flyer

About this Seminar

Fibrosis and aberrant Ca2+ handling are hallmarks of heart failure but are considered separate features. However, the fibrotic disposition of nanometer-sized collagen fibrils, particularly collagen VI (ColVI), may directly diminish Ca2+signalling in human heart failure. Using super-resolution microscopy Dr. Crossman and his team found increased ColVI within the transverse(t)-tubules. Moreover, t-tubule remodeling disrupts Ca2+ signaling in heart failure. Recently, circulating levels of ColVI were found to independently associate with poor outcomes in heart failure. While the importance of ColVI to skeletal muscle function is underscored by its mutation causing muscular dystrophy, its role in cardiac contraction remains poorly understood. Significantly, muscular dystrophy patients often develop heart failure. To understand the role of ColVI in the heart the lab created a knockout of this gene in the rat (Col6a1-/-). Echocardiography showed both impaired systolic and diastolic function. Cardiac myocytes from Col6a1-/- have increased systolic Ca2+transient and greater response to b-adrenergic stimulation that is pro-arrhythmogenic. Similar disturbance in Ca2+ handling is found in the cardiac myocytes of the mdx mouse which has non-functional dystrophin supporting our hypothesis that ColVI is part of the dystrophin-glycoprotein-complex and may have a role in regulating Ca2+ dynamics.

You May Also Be Interested In...

  • Home Item
    The Role of Exercise in Memory Function
    The Role of Exercise in Memory Function , home

    May 23, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Exercise Medicine Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

  • Home Item
    Pathways and Regulation of Cardiac Nav1.5 Channel Trafficking in Adult Myocytes
    Pathways and Regulation of Cardiac Nav1.5 Channel Trafficking in Adult Myocytes , home

    May 30, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Gea-Ny Tseng, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Vascular and Heart Research

  • Home Item
    Targeting Acquired Dependencies During Tumor Evolution
    Targeting Acquired Dependencies During Tumor Evolution , home

    June 6, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Kris Wood, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center – D.C.