Argraves, G.L., Barth*, J.L. and Argraves*, W.S. The MUSC DNA Microarray Database. Bioinformatics, 2003, 19(18):2473-4.

Argraves, Kelley M; Wilkerson, Brent A; Argraves, W Scott*; Fleming, Paul A; Obeid, Lina M; Drake, Christopher J. Sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling promotes critical migratory events in vasculogenesis. J Biol Chem 279 50580-90 2004

Argraves, W.S.*, Fleming, P.A., LaRue, A.C., Drake, C.J. VEGF signaling is required for the assembly but not the maintenance of embryonic blood vessels. Dev. Dynamics 2002 Nov;225(3):298-304.

Argraves, W.S.*, Twal W.O., Barth, J.L. Cooley, M.A., Gittinger, C.K.*, Kelly, Z.D., Greene, L.M., Gallagher W.M. Functional diversity in fibulin-1 by alternative splicing. Experimental Biology 2003

Baicu CF, Stroud JD, Livesay VA, Hapke E, Holder J, Spinale FG*, Zile MR. Changes in the extracellular collagen matrix alter systolic performance in both normal and pressure overload hypertrophied myocardium. Am J Physiol, 2003 Jan; 284 (1): H122-32

Barth, J.L.*, M.R. Chintalapudi, Moschella, P.C, Klatt, S.M, Knaak, C, McCarthy, R.R., LaRue, A.C., Drake, C.J. and W. S. Argraves*. Interaction between Indian hedgehog and the endocytic receptor megalin suggest a role for megalin in yolk sac vasculogenesis. Mol. Biol. Cell 2002 13:531a.

Birbes, H., Luberto, C., Hsu, Y.-T.*, El Bawab, S., Hannun, Y.A., and Obeid, L.M. (2005) A Mitochondrial pool of sphingomyelin is involved in TNF?-induced Bax translocation to mitochondria. Biochem. J. 386, 445-451.

Boland T, Mironov V*, Gutowska A, Roth EA, Markwald RR*. Cell and organ printing 2: Fusion of cell aggregates in three-dimensional gels. Anat Rec. 2003 272A(2):497-502.

Borg, TK*. Price, RL. and Carver, W. 2003. The Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Cardiac Disesase. E.Clark and A. Takao, editors, Futura Press, NY.

Bradham WS, Gunasinghe H, Holder JR, Multani M, Killip D, Anderson M, Meyer D, Spencer WH, Torre-Amione G, Spinale FG*. Release of matrix metalloproteinases following alcohol septal ablation in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2002 Dec 18; 40(12):2165-73

Chapman RE, Scott AA, Deschamps AM, Lowry AS, Stroud RE, Ikonomidis JS*, Spinale FG*. Matrix metalloproteinase abundance in human myocardial fibroblasts: effects of sustained pharmacologic matrix metalloproteinase inhibition. J Mol Cell Cardiol, 2003 May;35(5):539-548

Creemers E, Davis JN, Parkhurst AM, Leenders P, Dowdy KB, Hapke E, Hauet AM, Escobar PG, Cleutjens J, Smits J, Daemen M, Zile MR, Spinale FG*. Deficiency of the tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 gene exacerbates LV remodeling following myocardial infarction in mice. Am J Physiol, 2003 Jan; 284(1): H364-71

Evans, HJ, JK Sweet, RL Price, M Yost, RL Goodwin*. A novel 3-D culture system for the study of cardiac myocyte development. Am J. Phys Heart and Circulation Physiology Aug;285(2):H570-8. 2003.

Evans, HJ, Sweet, JK, Goodwin, RL*. Role of LEK1 in Cardiomyocyte proliferation and differentiation. Weinstien Cardiovascular Development Conference. 2003.

Fieber, Christina B., Juanita Eldridge, Lina Obeid, Chris Drake and Robin C. Muise-Helmericks* (2003) Regulation of the Akt family of kinases during angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. 19th Annual Oncogene Meeting

Fisk NM , Roberts IA, Markwald R*, Mironov V.* Can Routine Commercial Cord Blood Banking Be Scientifically and Ethically Justified? PLoS Med. 2005 Feb;2(2):e44. Epub 2005 Feb 22.

Fu, Y.*, Huang, Y., Bandyopadhyay, S., Virella, G., and Lopes-Virella, M. F. (2003). LDL immune complexes stimulate low density lipoprotein receptor expression in U937 histiocytes via extracellular signal-regulated kinase and AP-1. J. Lipid Research. 44, 1315-132.

Fu, Y.*, Luo, N., Lopes-Virella, M. F., and Garvey, W. T. (2002). The adipocyte lipid binding protein (ALBP/aP2) gene facilitates foam cell formation in human THP-1 macrophages. Atherosclerosis. 165, 259-269.

Ghatak, Shibnath; Misra, Suniti; Toole, Bryan P* Hyaluronan constitutively regulates ErbB2 phosphorylation and signalingcomplex formation in carcinoma cells. J Biol Chem 280 8875-83 2005

Gibson WC, Ikonomidis JS*, Gardner J, Mukherjee R, Spinale FG*. A Murine Model of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms. American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum, October 2003, Chicago.

Goldsmith E.C*. and T.K. Borg*. The dynamic interaction of the extracellular matrix in cardiac remodeling, J. of Cardiac Fail. 2002 8(6):S314-318.

Goldsmith, EC.* Carver, W. McFadden, A. Price, RL. Sussman, M. Lorell, BH, Cooper, G. and Borg, TK*. 2003. Integrin shedding as a mechanism of cellular adaptation during cardiac growth. Am. J. Physiology 284:H2227-34

Goldsmith, Edie C*; Hoffman, Adam; Morales, Mary O; Potts, Jay D; Price, Robert L; Mcfadden, Alex; Rice, Michael; Borg, Thomas K* Organization of fibroblasts in the heart. Dev Dyn 230 787-94 2004

Goodwin Rl*, Nesbitt T, Price Rl, Wells Jc, Yost Mj & Potts JD (2005) Three-dimensional model system of valvulogenesis. Dev Dyn, 233, 122-129.

Goodwin, RL*, Sweet, JK, Price, RL, Yost, M, Evans, HJ. Molecular Regulation of the Hyperplastic to Hypertrophic transition during heart development in a 3-D tube model. Weinstien Cardiovascular Development Conference. 2003.

Gourdie RG, Harris BS*, Bond J, Justus C, Hewett KH, O'Brien TX, *Thompson RP, *Sedmera D (2003) Development of the cardiac pacemaking and conduction system. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 69:46-57

Gourdie, Robert G., Brett S. Harris*, Jacqui Bond, Angela Edmondson, Cheng Gang, Takashi Mikawa, David Sedmera*, Terrence X. O'Brien, and Robert P. Thompson* His-Purkinje Lineages and Development. Novartis Found Symp 250, 110-122; discussion 122-114, 276-119.

Gourdie, Robert G., Brett S. Harris*, Jacqui Bond, Angela Edmondson, Cheng Gang, Takashi Mikawa, *David Sedmera, Terrence X. O'Brien, and *Robert P. Thompson (2003) His-Purkinje Lineages and Development. Invited chapter in Novartis Foundation Symposium on the Development of the Cardiac Pacemaking and Conduction System, May, 2002, 250:110-126.

Greene, L. M., Twal, W.O., McDermott, E. W., Hill, A. D., O'Higgins, N. J., McCann, A. H., Dervan, P.A., Duffy, M. J., Argraves, W.S.*, and Gallagher, W. M. Elevated expression and altered processing of fibulin-1 protein in human breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer 2003, Mar 24;88(6):871-878.

Grund, Eric M; Muise-Helmericks, Robin C* Cost efficient and effective gene transfer into the human natural killercell line, NK92. J Immunol Methods 296 31-6 2005

Grund, Eric M; Spyropoulos, Demetri D; Watson, Dennis K; Muise-Helmericks, Robin C* Interleukins 2 and 15 regulate Ets1 expression via ERK1/2 and MNK1 inhuman natural killer cells. J Biol Chem 280 4772-8 2005

Gunasinghe SK , Spinale FG* Myocardial basis for heart failure: role of cardiac interstitum. In: Heart Failure: A Companion to Braunwalds Heart Disease, In: Heart Failure: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease. Editor: Mann DL. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA; 2004, 57-69

Hoffman, A., M. Morales, A. Jacobs, J.D. Potts, R.L. Price, T.K. Borg* and E.C. Goldsmith*. Discoidin Domain Receptor (DDR2) Localization and Function in the Developing Heart, 2002 American Society of Cell Biology Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Hsu, Y. T.*, Hou, Q., Cymbalyuk, E. & Youle, R. (2003). Generation and characterization of species-specific anti-Bcl-X(L) monoclonal antibodies. Hybrid Hybridomics 22, 91-95.

Hsu, Y. T.*, Mohanty, S., Litvinchuk, A. & Hou, Q. (2004). Generation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies directed against the surface antigens of cervical cancer cells. Hybrid Hybridomics 23, 121-125.

Ikonomidis JS*, Bradley SM, Crawford FA Jr. Valve-sparing aortic root replacement: experience at MUSC. J S C Med Assoc 2004;100:274-277

Ikonomidis JS*, Spinale FG*. Invited discussion, Increased tissue microarray matrix metalloproteinase expression favors proteolysis in thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. Koullias GJ, Ravichandran P, Korkolis DP, Rimm DL, Elefteriades JA., Ann Thorac Surg 2004:78:2106-11

Ikonomidis JS*, Hendrick JW, Parkhurst AM, Escobar GP, Dowdy KM, Valdez TN, Hapke E, Zile MR, Spinale FG*. Accelerated remodeling following myocardial infarction in mice deficient of the tissue inhibitor of the matrix metalloproteinase is prevented by pharmacologic matrix metalloproteinase inhibition. American Heart Association, November 2002, Chicago.

Ikonomidis, John S*; Gibson, William C; Butler, Jessica E; Mcclister, David M; Sweterlitsch, Sarah E; Thompson, Robert P*; Mukherjee, Rupak; Spinale, Francis G* Effects of deletion of the tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1gene on the progression of murine thoracic aortic aneurysms. Circulation 110 II268-73 2004

Ikonomidis, John S*; Hendrick, Jennifer W; Parkhurst, Andrea M; Herron, Amanda R; Escobar, Patricia G; Dowdy, Kathryn B; Stroud, Robert E; Hapke, Elizabeth; Zile, Michael R; Spinale, Francis G* Accelerated LV remodeling after myocardial infarction in TIMP-1-deficientmice: effects of exogenous MMP inhibition. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 288 H149-58 2005

Ishikawa, F., Drake, C.J., Yang S., Fleming, P.A., Minamiguchi, H., Visconti, R.P.*, Crosby, C.V., Argraves, W.S.*, Harada, M., Key, L.L. Jr., Livingston, A.G., Wingard, J.R., Ogawa, M. Transplanted Human Cord Blood Cells Give Rise to Hepatocytes in Engrafted Mice. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 May;996:174-185.

Jakab K, Neagu A, Mironov V*, Forgacs G. Organ printing: fiction or science. Biorheology. 2004;41(3-4):371-5.

Jeong, S. Y., Gaume, B., Lee, Y. J., Hsu, Y. T.*, Ryu, S. W., Yoon, S. H. & Youle, R. J. (2004). Bcl-x(L) sequesters its C-terminal membrane anchor in soluble, cytosolic homodimers. Embo J 23, 2146-2155.

Kappler, C., Buchholz, A.L., Xu, L.* and Menick, D.R. Interaction of the Na+-Ca2+ Exchanger with Signaling Cofactors in the Cardiomyocyte. Biophysical Journal. 88 (1): 592a. (2005)

King MK, Coker ML, Goldberg A, McElmurray JH, Gunasinghe HR, Mukherjee R, Zile MR, ONeill TP, Spinale FG*. Selective matrix metalloproteinase inhibition with developing heart failure: effects on left ventricular function and structure. Circ Research, 2003 Feb 7; 92(2): 177-85

Lavenberg, K., Tien Hsu* and Robin C. Muise-Helmericks* (2003) Coordinated functions of Akt/PKB and Ets1 in angiogenesis. 19th Annual Oncogene Meeting

McCarthy, R. A. and Argraves, W.S.* Megalin and the neurodevelopmental biology of sonic hedgehog and retinol. J. Cell Sci. 2003 116, 955-960.

McCarthy, R. A., Barth, J.L.*, Chintalapudi, M.R., Knaak, C., Argraves, W.S.* Megalin functions as an endocytic sonic hedgehog receptor. J. Biol. Chem. 2002 Jul 12;277(28):25660-7.

McFadden, A., Josh Hastings, Richard L. Goodwin*, Michael J. Yost, Robert L. Price, and Edie C.Goldsmith*. The Role of the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) in Cardiac Development, Experimental Biology 2003.

Mironov V*, Boland T, Trusk T*, Forgacs G, Markwald RR*. Organ printing: computer-aided jet-based 3D tissue engineering. Trends Biotechnol. 2003 Apr;21(4):157-61.

Mironov V*. Beyond cloning: Toward human printing. Futurist, 2003, May/June 34-37

Mironov V.*, Forgacs G., Markwald RR*, Organ printing: self-assembling cell aggregates as a bioink, Science and Medicine , 2003, 9, 69-71.

Mironov, V.*, Visconti, R. P.* & Markwald, R. R.* (2004). What is regenerative medicine? Emergence of applied stem cell and developmental biology. Expert Opin Biol Ther 4, 773-781.

Mukherjee R, Brinsa TA, Dowdy KB, Scott AA, Baskin JM, Deschamps AM, Lowry AS, Escobar GP, Lucas DG, Yarbrough WM, Zile MR, Spinale FG*. Myocardial infarct expansion and matrix metalloproteinase inhibition. Circulation 2003 Feb 4; 107(4): 618-25

Mukherjee R, Multani MM, Sample JA, Dowdy KB, Zellner JL, Hoover DB, Spinale FG*. Effects of adrenomedullin on human myocyte contractile function and B-adrenergic response. J Cardiovasc Pharm, 2002;7(4):235-240

Multani MM, Ikonomidis JS*, Kim PY, Miller EA, Payne KJ, Mukherjee R, Dorman BH, Spinale FG* Dynamic and differential changes in myocardial interstitial and plasma endothelin in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2005;129:584-90

Peter J. Hunter and Borg, TK*. 2003. Innovation: Integration from proteins to organs: the Physiome Project. Nature Reviews in Molecular Cell Biology 4:237-243.

Price R.L., S.T. Haley, T.A. Bullard, E.C. Goldsmith*, D.G. Simpson, T.E.Thielen and L. Terracio. The effects of platelet-derived growth factor AA and BB on embryonic cardiac development, Anat Rec. 2003 272A(1):424-33.

Price, RL, J Davis, MJ Yost, RL Goodwin*, L Terracio. 2004. Electron Microscopy: It’s role in Imaging of Biomaterials and Engineered Cells and Tissues. In Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. G. Wnek and G. Bowin (eds). Marcel Dekker. Inc. pp534-542.

Sedmera D*, Kolar F, *Thompson RP (2003) Effect of increased pressure loading on heart growth in neonatal rats. J Mol Cell Cardiol 35:301-309, 2003.

Sedmera D*, Reckova M, deAlmeida A, Sedmerova M, Biermann M, Volejnik J, Sarre A, Raddatz E, McCarthy RA, Gourdie RG, *Thompson RP (2003) Functional and morphological evidence for a ventricular conduction system in zebrafish and Xenopus hearts. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 284: H1152-H1160

Sedmera D*, Reckova M, deAlmeida A, Stanley CP, Gourdie RG, *Thompson RP (2003) Changes in mechanical loading modulate maturation of conduction system in the embryonic chick heart. FASEB J 17:A116

Sedmera, David*, Andrew C. Cook, Girish Shirali, Tim C. McQuinn*, (2005) Current issues and perspectives in hypoplasia of the left heart. Cardiol Young 15:1-17

Sedmera, David; Reckova, Maria; Bigelow, Michael R; Dealmeida, Angela; Stanley, Chiffvon P; Mikawa, Takashi; Gourdie, Robert G; Thompson, Robert P* Developmental transitions in electrical activation patterns in chickembryonic heart. Anat Rec 280A 1001-9 2004

Smaili S.S., Hsu Y.-T.*, Carvalho A.C., Rosenstock T.R., Sharpe J.C., and Youle R.J. (2003) Mitochondria, calcium and pro-apoptotic proteins as mediators in cell death signaling. Braz J Med Biol Res 36,183-190

Spinale FG* Matrix Metalloproteinases in heart failure: evidence from expierimental models. In: Inflammation and Cardiac Diseases. Editors: Feuerstein GZ, Libby P, Mann DL, Birkhauser Verlag Basel/Switzerland, 2003.

Spinale FG, Gunasinghe H, Sprunger PD, Baskin JM, Bradham WS. Extracellular degradative pathways in myocardial remodeling and progression to heart failure. J Card Failure, 2002 Dec;8(6): S332-8

Spinale FG*. Bioactive peptide signaling within the myocardial intersitium and the matrix metalloproteinases. Circ Research, 2002 Dec 13;91(12):1082-4

Spinale FG*. The bioactive peptide endothelin causes multiple biologic responses relevant to myocardial and vascular performance after cardiac surgery. J Thorac Card Surg 2002 June; 123(6): 1031-4

Spinale FG*. The extracellular matrix: summation. J Card Failure, 2002 Dec;8(6): S349-50

Stroud JD, Baicu CF, Barnes MA, Spinale FG*, Zile MR. Viscoelastic properties of pressure overload hypertrophied myocardium: effects of treatment with a serine protease treatment. Am J Physiol Heart Circ 2002 Jun; 282(6): H232-35

Stroud, Robert E; Deschamps, Anne M; Lowry, Abigail S; Hardin, Amy E; Mukherjee, Rupak; Lindsey, Merry L; Ramamoorthy, Sammanda; Zile, Michael R; Spencer, William H; Spinale, Francis G* Plasma monitoring of the myocardial specific tissue inhibitor ofmetalloproteinase-4 after alcohol septal ablation in hypertrophicobstructive cardiomyopathy. J Card Fail 11 124-30 2005

Sussman , MA . McCulloch, A. and Borg, TK*. 2002. Dance band on the Titanic: biomechanical signaling in cardiac hypertrophy (Invited Review). Circulation Res. 91:888-898.

Thompson, Robert P.*, Maria Reckova, Angela deAlmeida, Michael R. Bigelow, Chiffvon P. Stanley, Joshua B. Spruill, Thomas C. Trusk* and *David Sedmera (2003) The oldest, toughest cells in the heart. Invited chapter in Novartis Foundation Symposium on the Development of the Cardiac Pacemaking and Conduction System, May, 2002, 250:157-176.

Uber W, Uber L, VanBakel AJ, Crumbley AJ III, Pereira NL, Ikonomidis JS*, Feldman DS. CD3 monitoring and thymoglobulin therapy in cardiac transplantation: clinical outcomes and pharmacoeconomic implications. Transplant Proc 2005;36:3245-3249

Van Praet, O., Argraves, W.S.*, and Morales, C.R., Co-expression and interaction of cubilin and megalin in the adult male reproductive system. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 2003 Feb;64(2):129-35.

Visconti, R.P.*, Barth, J.L.*, Keeley F. W., and C.D. Little. Codistribution analysis of elastin and related fibrillar proteins in early vertebrate development. Matrix Biol. 22 (2): 109-12, 2003.

Weiwei Song, Jeremy L. Barth*, Kangmo Lu, Yongxin Yu, Yan Huang, Cynthia K. Gittinger*, W. Scott Argraves*, and Timothy J. Lyons. Effects of Modified LDL on Human Retinal Pericyte Survival. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1043: 1-6 (2005)

Wessels, A., Phelps, A., Trusk, T.C.*, Davis, D.L., Edwards, A.V., Burch, J.B.E., and Juraszek, A.L. Mouse models for cardiac conduction system development. In Development of the cardiac conduction system. Wiley, Chichester (Novartis Foundation Symposium 250), 2003, 44-67.

Wilson EM, Gunasinghe HR, Coker ML, Sprunger P, Lee-Jackson D, Bozkurt B, Deswal A, Mann DL, Spinale FG*. Plasma matrix metalloproteinase and inhibitor profiles in patients with heart failure. J Card Failure, 2002 Dec; 8(6): S390, 398

Xie W., R. Thompson*, and R. Perucchio, A topology-preserving parallel 3D thinning algorithm for extracting the curve skeleton. Pattern Recognition, 36:1529-1544, 2003.

Xu, L.*, Olson, E.N and Menick, D.R. Class II Histone Deacetylases Regulate Expression of the Sodium/Calcium Exchanger During Cardiac Hypertrophy. Circulation. 110 (17): 35 (2004)

Yarbrough WM and Spinale FG*. Large animal models of congestive heart failure: a critical step in translating basic observations into clinical applications. J Nuc Card, 2003 Jan-Feb; 10(1): 77-86

Yarbrough WM, Mukherjee R, Brinsa TA, Dowdy KB, Scott AA, Escobar GP, Joffs C, Lucas DG, Crawford FA, Spinale FG*. Matrix metalloproteinase inhibition modifies left ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 2003 Mar;125(3):602-10

Yost MJ, CF Baicu, CE Stonerock, RL Goodwin*, RL Price, JM Davis, H Evans, P D Watson, CM Gore, J Sweet, L Creech, MR Zile and L Terracio. A Novel Tubular Scaffold for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering. Tissue Eng 10:273-284. 2004

Grant Submissions:

NIH R01 "Role of the AKT Kinase Family in New Vessel Formation"
PI: R. Muise-Helmericks
Submitted: 2003

NIH RO1 "Regulation of the Cardiac Myocyte Cell Cycle"
PI: RL Goodwin
Co-PI Yost
Submitted: 2/3/03

NIH RFA R21 "Design and Fabrication of a functioningHeart Tube"
PI: Yost
Co-PI Goodwin
Submitted February 2002

NIH RO1 "Extracellular Mechanisms for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms"
PI: John Ikonomidis
Submitted Friday Jan 31 2003

NIH RO1 "Role of Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 in Valvulogenesis"
PI: Edie C. Goldsmith
Submitted October 1, 2002

Progress:

• The Administrative and Mentoring Cores have organized monthly meetings with all targeted faculty and mentors. During the first year, we primarily focused on how the mentees could interface with the morphology and imaging, transgenic mouse, and proteomics cores. Each COBRE PI’s project was scrutinized for effective use of the cores, expectations in terms of data acquisition, and feasibility for extending their primary areas of interest.
• In the last eight months the faculty of the Mentoring Core have been meeting individually with target investigators on both campuses. The purpose of these visits is to provide critical feedback on data being assembled for grant submissions. We have met at least once with each targeted PI, in most instances two or more times.
• Four R01 proposals (John Ikonomidis, Robin Muise-Helmricks, Richard Goodwin and Edie Goldsmith) have been submitted, each with input from the Mentoring Core faculty. An external advisor with current experience on a relevant study section also reviewed each proposal. The feedback by the mentors can be described as very candid but helpful. Every effort was made to guide the grantees without stifling their own creativities, calling to task errors of omission and commission.
• Two additional R01 applications (Yi-Te Hsu and Yuchang Fu) are being prepared for June 1 submission.
• All COBRE PIs have published at least two papers citing COBRE support. Most have three or four publications to date.
• Even prior to activation of the award, we began consultation with external advisors. Drs. Beverly Lorell (Harvard), Alan Sameral (Chicago) and Robert Anderson (London) returned during 2002, and will visit again in 2003 (Lorell, March 2; Anderson, March 18, Samarel, April 20). Dr. Mark Sussman (University of Cincinnati), who is well known for transgenic work, visited January 16-18. Dr. Andrew McCullough (University of California, San Diego), whose expertise is in cardiovascular tissue engineering, will visit February 16-19. Each external advisor visits both the USC and MUSC campuses. All external consultants meet one-on one with the targeted faculty. They also interview the scientific core directors and the Mentoring Core members, and provide a written report to Drs. Markwald and Borg, the COBRE Co-Directors. Dr. Sussman, our most recent visitor, reported excellent to outstanding progress by most targeted faculty and encouraged even more interface with the cores. He noted the unique dynamic imaging potential being established in the Morphology and Imaging Core (Aim 3). At the exit discussion with Dr. Sussman, we reviewed the central tenets of this supplemental proposal, of which he was highly supportive. In June, we will convene the external advisors as a group for a comprehensive critical review.
• In July 2002 the Morphology and Imaging Core installed a new upright confocal instrument (Leica TCS SP2). The purchase was made with equipment funds in the initial COBRE award along with institutional support from the Provost and Dean. All COBRE participants (PIs plus their technicians and students) have been trained on the instruments. They have protected time on the instrument to guarantee access on demand. All participants have generated data on this instrument for use in R01 submissions and publications.
• Mentoring faculty submitted two Shared Instrumentation Grants to NCRR in March 2002. One requested a blastocyst injection station that will enhance the Transgenic Animal Core. MUSC currently has no such equipment, and all knockouts are constructed using morular aggregation. The other application would extend the Morphology and Imaging Core by providing small animal MRI capabilities. The first application was funded; the second is being revised for re-submission.
• To increase the critical mass of COBRE investigators and enhance the impact on our research capacity in cardiovascular science, we initiated an informal, trial-basis program for Pilot Project Starter Grants beginning with the 02 year, using institutional (not COBRE) funds. (We have determined that the Pilot Program will demonstrably augment the beneficial impact of the COBRE. Therefore, we will present the concept for review and recommendation at our External Advisory Committee meeting in June, and subsequently communicate with NCRR program staff for approval to expand the scope of the grant funds to include the Pilot Program.) The purpose is identify additional talented new faculty in cardiovascular science at MUSC or USC who fit the profile for a COBRE investigator. These are individuals who were either not present or not quite ready when we identified the initial targeted faculty. The plan is to provide them with small “seed grants” of $50,000 for supplies and partial salary support for themselves and a technician. Each is considered a targeted investigator, eligible for mentoring and full access to COBRE core facilities. To date, two junior faculty. Dr. David Sedmera and Dr. Richard Visconti have been nominated as candidates for formal pilot support subject to approval by the NCRR. Dr. Sedmera is an MD/PhD cardiac embryologist at MUSC who has developed an in utero surgical model to study the effects of hemodynamics upon myocyte proliferation. Dr. Visconti recently completed a postdoctoral program in Texas and was recruited to MUSC by Drs. Chris Drake and Makio Ogawa to determine the fate of adult-derived bone marrow stem cells that migrate to the adult heart. Dr. Visconti collaborates closely with Dr. Ikonomidis (Project 1) in looking at the role of adult stem cells in surgically infracted hearts.
• We received a COBRE supplement effective September 30, 2002, for alterations and renovations create (1) a cardiovascular tissue engineering laboratory, (2) a frog transgenic facility, and (3) an adequate laboratory to recruit a molecular pharmacologist. The supplement also provided funds for a capillary electrophoresis unit for COBRE investigators at USC. Planning and design for the renovations are progressing well. These renovations open up 400 sq. ft of backfill space that will expand the Morphology and Imaging Core to house the equipment requested in this proposal.
• The cardiovascular tissue engineering initiative under the leadership of two investigators (Drs. V. Mironov and V. Kasyanov) has had recent success with a new technology called organ printing. to be published in April in the British journal Trends in Biotechnology. The journal released the to Reuters prior to actual publication, thus the work was recently featured on CNN and the BBC. All the imaging for the Trends paper was done with assistance of the Morphology and Imaging Core.
• The COBRE grant has supported a number of seminars and special symposia relevant to the goals of mentoring and infrastructure enhancement. These include seminar visits by renowned cardiovascular scientists Michael DeBakey, Judah Folkman and Michael Rosen. COBRE funds have sponsored seminars/symposia related to tissue engineering, bioinformatics, stem cells and cell signaling. We have also initiated collaborations with the goal of pooling resources for mentoring and recruitment with a new COBRE award in colon cancer at USC and South Carolina BRIN/EPSCOR awards to USC/MUSC/Clemson University.
• The co-leaders of the Morphology and Imaging Core (Thompson, Gourdie and Wessels) were invited by the Novartis Foundation to present their work at a symposium on development and imaging of the cardiac conduction system held May 13-18, 2002, in London.
• All COBRE targeted faculty have presented their sponsored work at one or more national meetings, including two invited presentations (Ikonomidis, American Heart Association; Goodwin, Weinstein and FASEB meetings).
• A joint meeting between the Maine COBRE group directed by Dr. Thomas Maciag and our own COBRE team was held April 9-11, 2002 in Charleston. Collaborations were initiated which continue through sharing of reagents.
• Five new R01 applications were submitted: one is funded already and another received an 8.6% ranking.
• In accordance with Specific Aims 3 and 4, three pilot research were developed. Two are now implemented. All three pilot research subprojects were selected in consultation with the external advisors who supported our suggestion that we develop pilot projects that could synergize with those of existing research subprojects and potentially lead to a framework for developing a program project in the 05 year (Specific Aim 4). One of the projects is to create a myocardial hypertrophy model, the other two subprojects are on adult derived stem cells and cardiovascular tissue engineering.
• Specific Aim 3 was to recruit 4-5 new faculty in the 03 to 05 years. However, because of excellent cooperation between the COBRE center and the Departments, we were able to initiate recruitment in this (02) year. As a result, all 3 newly recruited assistant professors will be on board for most of the 03 year. Their areas of expertise in cardiovascular sciences are consistent with Specific Aim 4: bioinformatics, molecular biology (differential gene expression) and integrative systems biology. One, Dr. Visconti, has already submitted a pilot research project on stem cells to begin the 03 year.
• One our targeted faculty (Yuchang Fu, subproject 0004) was offered a position at the University of Alabama by his targeted mentor (Dr. Tim Garvey) who was recruited there to be a Chair. When it became evident that Dr. Fu would be leaving, the mentoring and external advisory committees were consulted. The decision was to promote one of the pilot research projects (Sedmera) to subproject status. Since becoming associated with our COBRE, Dr. Sedmera has received a March of Dimes new investigator award and is planning to submit an R01 in October. Dr. Sedmera, an M.D. Ph.D, was appointed almost two years ago to a faculty position (assistant professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy). His project involved creating a surgical model for left ventricular hypertrophy.

Last updated: December 15, 2008