Team
Team Manager: Bensimon-Brito Anabela
Presentation
The cardiovascular system is a vital network that ensures the maintenance of organs and tissues by providing oxygen, nutrients and a number of important circulating factors.
We are interested in understanding the mechanisms by which cells and molecules maintain homeostasis, contribute to disease or promote regeneration in cardiovascular tissues.
Using zebrafish as a model system, we combine genetics, single-cell and live-imaging approaches to unravel how the same element can wield either a pro-regenerative or a pro-disease role within different contexts.
Project 1
A common dysfunction of the cardiovascular system arises from the deposition of mineral and calcification of the soft cardiovascular tissue.
Cardiovascular calcification can be triggered by various factors, and the specific cell types and signaling pathways involved remain unknown.
In this project we integrate an extensive array of genetic, chemical and nutritional models to elucidate the cellular dynamics and molecular mechanisms regulating cardiovascular calcification.
Project 2
One of the main cardiovascular tissues affected by disease is the cardiac valve which is responsible to maintain the unidirectional blood flow within the heart.
We have established a model to study cardiac valve regeneration in zebrafish and understand how tissues can be rebuild in a beating heart.
In this project we use this genetic model to unravel the regenerative process, with a particular focus on clarifying how cell heterogeneity contributes to promoting regeneration.
Project 3
Zebrafish are a valuable model for large-scale small compound screening by combining the advantages of in vitro screens (e.g. high-throughput, low-cost) in an in vivo system.
In this project we will use a Vertebrate Automated Screening Technology platform coupled with a spinning-disk confocal microscope (VAST-SDCM) to perform a fast, high-resolution screen of cardiovascular phenotypes in zebrafish larvae.
– Cardeira-da-Silva, J.* #, Bensimon-Brito, A.*, Tarasco, M., Brandão, A. S., Rosa, J., Almeida, P. J., Jacinto, A., Cancela, M. L., Gavaia, P. J., Stainier, D. Y. R., Laizé, V.. Fin ray branching is defined by TRAP+ osteolytic tubules PNAS 119(48) e2209231119 2022 Oct
– Bensimon-Brito, A.*#, Boezio, G.L.M.*, Cardeira-da-Silva, J., Wietelmann, A., Helker, C.S.M., Ramadass, R., Piesker, J., Nauerth, A., Mueller, C., Stainier, D.Y.R.. Integration of multiple imaging platforms to uncover cardiovascular defects in adult zebrafish Cardiovascular Research 118(12):2665-2687 2022 Aug
– Gunawan, F.*#, Gentile, A.*, Gauvrit, S., Stainier, D. Y. R. #, Bensimon-Brito, A.*#. Nfatc1 promotes interstitial cell formation during cardiac valve development in zebrafish. Circulation Research 126:968–984 2020 Feb
– Bensimon-Brito, A.#, Ramkumar*, S., Boezio*, G. L. M., Guenther, S., Kuenne, C., Helker, C. S. M., Sánchez-Iranzo, H., Iloska, D., Piesker, J., Pullamsetti, S., Mercader, N., Beis, D., Stainier, D. Y. R.#. TGF-ß signaling promotes tissue formation during cardiac valve regeneration in adult zebrafish. Developmental Cell 52(1):9-20 2020 Jan
– Bensimon-Brito, A.* #, Cardeira, J.*, Dionísio. G., Huyesseune, A., Cancela, M.L., Witten, P.E.. Revisiting in vivo staining with alizarin red S – a valuable approach to analyse zebrafish skeletal mineralization during development and regeneration BMC Developmental Biology 16(1):2 2016 Jan
– Bensimon-Brito, A., Cardeira, J., Cancela, M.L., Huysseune, A., Witten, P.E.. Distinct patterns of notochord mineralization in zebrafish coincide with the localization of osteocalcin isoform 1 during early vertebral centra formation BMC Developmental Biology 12(1):28 2012 Oct
Affiliation
