Megan Holt
Program: Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Current advisor: Kory J. Lavine, MD, PhD
Undergraduate university: St. Mary’s College-California
Research summary
Previous work from the Lavine lab uncovered a direct interaction between cardiomyocytes and cardiac resident macrophages via focal adhesion complexes (FACs). One of the main components of these focal adhesions is focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which acts as a primary regulator of focal adhesion signaling and has been shown to play a role in cell migration, proliferation, and survival. Using an inducible FAK flox/flox Cx3cr2 ert2cre mouse model, I am working to investigate the role of cardiac-resident macrophage FAK in murine heart development and in a pressure overload injury model. Additionally, I am working to differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into cardiac-resident-like and bone marrow derived-like macrophages. I will utilize these macrophage subtypes in co-culture with cardiomyocytes to uncover the differences in their cardiac transcriptional environments during the development and maturation using single cell RNA sequencing.
Graduate publications