Person
Grimes, Adrian
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Biography and Research Interest
B.Sc. Hons. (First Class) London Univesity, Birkbeck College, 2000.
M.Res. Applied Fish Biology, University of Plymouth, 2001.
Ph.D. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA, 2007.
I gained my PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathobiology program. However, I conducted my thesis research in Peggy Kirby's lab at Duke University Medical Center.
I am investigating the development of the arterial pole in the zebrafish heart. We have demonstrated that there is evolutionary conservation in aspects of arterial pole development and that the bulbus arteriosus is akin the arterial trunk(s) of vertebrates possessing a four chambered heart. We have also provided evidence for the presence of a conus arteriosus in the zebrafish (a distinct collar of myocardium surrounding and supporting the outflow valve). I am currently constructing fate maps of the zebrafish embryo at pre-gastrulation and early developmental stages to ascertain the origin of this region of the heart.
A second, related project is aimed at determining whether there is a secondary heart field in the zebrafish. In amniote vertebrate models such as the chick and mouse (and recently demonstrated in Xenopus, too), the early heart tube does not contain all of the myocardium necessary to form a fully functional heart. The arterial pole is formed by the later addition of cells from the secondary heart field (not to be confused with 'second' or 'anterior' heart fields!!). These cells migrate in from the pharyngeal region and contribute myocardium to the distal outflow tract (truncus) and smooth muscle to the tunica media of the arterial trunk, thus forming the junction between the heart and the arteries. Early results from zebrafish suggest that a similar population of cells is added to the arterial pole from the dorsal wall of the pericardial sac after formation of the heart tube, almost certainly adding smooth muscle to the bulbus arteriosus. I am investigating whether this region also contributes myocardium to the ouitflow tract.
I am also interested in how environmental contaminants, such as PCBs and dioxins, exert their toxic effects and cause serious cardiac defects in many species, including zebrafish. We are currently researching the mechanisms of toxicity of such compounds in a zebrafish model of human hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
M.Res. Applied Fish Biology, University of Plymouth, 2001.
Ph.D. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA, 2007.
I gained my PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathobiology program. However, I conducted my thesis research in Peggy Kirby's lab at Duke University Medical Center.
I am investigating the development of the arterial pole in the zebrafish heart. We have demonstrated that there is evolutionary conservation in aspects of arterial pole development and that the bulbus arteriosus is akin the arterial trunk(s) of vertebrates possessing a four chambered heart. We have also provided evidence for the presence of a conus arteriosus in the zebrafish (a distinct collar of myocardium surrounding and supporting the outflow valve). I am currently constructing fate maps of the zebrafish embryo at pre-gastrulation and early developmental stages to ascertain the origin of this region of the heart.
A second, related project is aimed at determining whether there is a secondary heart field in the zebrafish. In amniote vertebrate models such as the chick and mouse (and recently demonstrated in Xenopus, too), the early heart tube does not contain all of the myocardium necessary to form a fully functional heart. The arterial pole is formed by the later addition of cells from the secondary heart field (not to be confused with 'second' or 'anterior' heart fields!!). These cells migrate in from the pharyngeal region and contribute myocardium to the distal outflow tract (truncus) and smooth muscle to the tunica media of the arterial trunk, thus forming the junction between the heart and the arteries. Early results from zebrafish suggest that a similar population of cells is added to the arterial pole from the dorsal wall of the pericardial sac after formation of the heart tube, almost certainly adding smooth muscle to the bulbus arteriosus. I am investigating whether this region also contributes myocardium to the ouitflow tract.
I am also interested in how environmental contaminants, such as PCBs and dioxins, exert their toxic effects and cause serious cardiac defects in many species, including zebrafish. We are currently researching the mechanisms of toxicity of such compounds in a zebrafish model of human hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Non-Zebrafish Publications