
Bio
Reza Ardehali, MD, PhD, studies the molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular development. His goal is to apply an understanding of heart development to the creation of novel regenerative approaches to treat heart disease.
Of particular interest to Dr. Ardehali is the intrinsic signaling that trigger cardiac regeneration early in life, molecular events that regulate developmental decisions instructing cardiac progenitor cells to adopt a specific cell fate, and delivery approaches of cardiovascular progenitors into an injured heart.
Dr. Ardehali uses novel transgenic mouse models, as well as mostly human pluripotent stem cells (PSC) to address his research questions. Transgenic mouse models are instrumental for elucidating pathways that regulate cardiac development and regeneration. Additionally, PSCs - both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells - provide insights into the mechanisms involved in the differentiation and specification of heart cells. He and his team recently identified several novel surface markers that can highly enrich for early cardiovascular progenitors. When delivered into functioning human hearts that have been transplanted into animal models, the cardiovascular progenitors integrated structurally and functionally into the host myocardium. These studies have established the basis for future PSC-based cardiac therapy.
Current projects in his lab include determining the extent of cardiomyocyte division during in utero and post-natal development at a clonal level; assessing the role of resident cardiac stem cells after cardiac injury and during development; using embryonic stem cells to lineage trace cardiomyocyte differentiation; and, using novel in vitro and in vivo models to identify pure populations of cardiovascular progenitors capable of engraftment into the host myocardium.
An associate professor of cardiology, Dr. Ardehali completed his residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins, followed by clinical training in cardiology at Stanford University. He spent five years in Irving L. Weissman’s lab at Stanford before relocating to UCLA in 2012. In addition to his membership with the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, Dr. Ardehali is affiliated with the UCLA Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Program and the American Heart Association.
Dr. Ardehali’s research work is funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, the Gilead Research in Cardiovascular Disease and the Steinhart-Reed Foundation.
Publications
- Analysis of cardiomyocyte clonal expansion during mouse heart development and injuryPublished in Nature Communications on Wednesday, February 21, 2018
- Biomarkers of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac lineagesPublished in Trends in Molecular Medicine on Friday, July 7, 2017
- Generation of Nkx2-5/CreER transgenic mice for inducible Cre expression in developing heartsPublished in Genesis on Thursday, June 15, 2017
- Giant cell myocarditis masquerading as orbital myositis with a rapid, fulminant course necessitating mechanical support and heart transplantationPublished in ESC Heart Failure on Wednesday, March 8, 2017
- Human Embryonic Stem Cells Do Not Change Their X Inactivation Status during DifferentiationPublished in Cell Reports on Thursday, December 15, 2016
- Cardiac Light-Sheet Fluorescent Microscopy for Multi-Scale and Rapid Imaging of Architecture and FunctionPublished in Scientific Reports on Thursday, March 3, 2016
- CD13 and ROR2 Permit Isolation of Highly Enriched Cardiac Mesoderm from Differentiating Human Embryonic Stem CellsPublished in Stem Cell Reports on Tuesday, January 12, 2016
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Iron Oxide-Labeled Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac ProgenitorsPublished in Stem Cells Translational Medicine on Wednesday, November 18, 2015
- Translational aspects of cardiac cell therapyPublished in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine on Saturday, June 27, 2015
- Arrhythmia in Stem Cell TransplantationPublished in Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinics on Monday, June 1, 2015
- COCATS 4 Task Force 12: Training in Heart FailurePublished in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Sunday, May 17, 2015
- Insights Into Aortic Sclerosis and Its Relationship With Coronary Artery DiseasePublished in Journal of the American Heart Association on Friday, September 5, 2014
- Developmental Heterogeneity of Cardiac Fibroblasts Does Not Predict Pathological Proliferation and ActivationPublished in Journal of the American Heart Association on Friday, July 18, 2014
- Existing cardiomyocytes generate cardiomyocytes at a low rate after birth in micePublished in PNAS on Sunday, May 4, 2014
- SIRPA, VCAM1 and CD34 identify discrete lineages during early human cardiovascular developmentPublished in Stem Cell Research on Sunday, May 4, 2014
- c-Met-dependent multipotent labyrinth trophoblast progenitors establish placental exchange interfacPublished in Developmental Cell on Monday, November 25, 2013
- Parabiosis in Mice: A Detailed ProtocolPublished in JoVE on Sunday, October 6, 2013
- Prospective isolation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiovascular progenitors that integrate into human fetal heart tissuePublished in PNAS on Monday, January 7, 2013
- Endogenous Wnt signalling in human embryonic stem cells generates an equilibrium of distinct lineage-specified progenitorsPublished in Nature Communications on Tuesday, September 18, 2012
- Isolation of primitive endoderm, mesoderm, vascular endothelial and trophoblast progenitors from human pluripotent stem cellsPublished in Nature Biotechnology on Sunday, May 27, 2012
- The Effect of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Statins on the Progression of Aortic Sclerosis and MortalityPublished in Journal of Heart Valve Disease on Thursday, May 3, 2012