Jia-Qiang He, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Tel: 502-852-8420
Email Dr. He
Human stem cells, including human embryonic stem cells (hESC), adult stem cells, cord blood stem cells and recently induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, are groups of cells isolated from different sources of human tissues or induced by reprogramming terminated somatic cells. These cells have the capability of self-renewal and can differentiate into almost any types of specialized cells in the body under certain condition. Therefore, stem cells provide a great potential as a new approach of cell-based therapy to treat different kinds of diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and neurological diseases. The overall goal of our laboratory is to understand stem cell cardiac differentiation and to establish new approaches to use these cells for treatment of cardiac diseases. Our research interests include stem cell biology and cardiac differentiation, cardiomyocytes electrophysiology and functional maturity, stem cell tissue engineering, and stem cell-based therapy for acute infarct heart diseases. To accomplish those projects, different types of techniques both in vitro and in vivo models will be used. The completed studies will provide new insights into human stem cell cardiogenesis and offer novel approaches to myocardial repairing. Currently, one of our projects is to identify, characterize and purify human cardiac stem cells with c-kit+, scal1+ and MDR+, but Lin- markers. We will then use these cells to study the cardiac differentiation, homing mechanism, the paracrine effects, cardiac engraftment, and to develop the better methods of cell delivery for repairing the damaged heart in animal models. In addition, we also hope those results and methods can be used for understand other cardiac disease like the diabetic-induced cardiomyopathy. The ultimate goal is to translate the animal studies into clinical application of heart diseases.
Selected Publications
1) Sale, H., Wang, J., O'Hara T.J., Tester, D.J., Phartiyal, P., He, J-Q., Rudy, Y., Ackerman, M.J., Robertson, G.A. Physiological properties of hERG 1a/1b heteromeric currents and a hERG 1b-specific mutation associated with long-qt syndrome. Circ Res. 2008, 103:e81-95.
2) He, J.-Q., January, C.T., Thomson, J.A., and Kamp, T.J., Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes: Drug Discovery/Safety Pharmacology. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2007, 2:739-753.
3) Xu, C.H., He, J-Q., Kamp T.J., Police S., Hao, X.M., O’s Sullivan, C., Carpenter, M.K., Lebkowski, J., and Gold J.D. Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can be maintained in defined medium without serum. Stem Cells and Development, 2006, 15:931-941.
4) He J.-Q., Balijepalli R.C., Haworth R.A., and Kamp T.J. Crosstalk of beta-adrenergic receptor subtypes through Gi blunts beta-adrenergic stimulation of L-type Ca2+ channels in canine heart failure. Circ Res. 2005, 97:566-73.
5) He, J-Q., Ma, Y., Causey J.A., Lee Y., Thomson J.A., and Kamp T.J. Human embryonic stem cells develop into multiple types of cardiac myocytes: action potential characterization. Circ Res. 2003, 93: 32-39.
6) Kamp, T.J. and He, J-Q.. L-type Ca2+ channels gaining respect in heart failure. [Editorials] Circ Res, 2002, 91:451-453.
7) He, J-Q., Conklin M.W., Foell J.D., Wolff M.R., Haworth R.A., Coronado R., and Kamp T.J. Reduction in density of transverse tubules and L-type Ca2+ channels in canine tachycardia-induced heart
failure. Cardiovasc. Res. 2001, 49:298-307.
8) He, J-Q., Pi, Y.Q., Walker, J.W. and Kamp, T.J. Endothelin-1 and photo-released diacylglycerol increase L-type Ca2+ current by activation of PKC in rat ventricular myocytes. J. Physiol. (London). 2000, 524:807-820.
