Dr. Robert E. Poelman
Professor, dept. Anatomy and Embryology
Leiden University
‘Dynamics of Cardiovascular Development’
co-referee
Prof. Johan van Leeuwen
Experimental Zoology Group
The most obvious function of the heart is generating the rhythmic pulse to propel blood. The forces generated by the contractile cardiomyocytes and the counterforces, especially shear stress, in the vascular system activate and inhibit many gene pathways. Approximately 50% of all experimental mutations that are embryolethal in mice (knockouts) are due to mismatches in cardiovascular development. The increasing complexity of the geometry of the developing heart results from a combination of the inherent transcriptome and the signalling through hemodynamic forces. A combination of computational fluid dynamics, experimental embryology, gene expression patterns and imaging of flow patterns using microPIV and MRI allows to decide on the interlocking mechanisms. It will be discussed to what extent cardiovascular remodelling is dominated by flow and what role apoptosis, and the asymmetry of the aortic arch arteries could play in heart development?