Gender	Male
E-mail	chenleng.cai@mssm.edu
Awards	2008 - 2010 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar March of Dimes
	2008 - 2011 Grant-in-Aid American Heart Association
	2004 Schuman Award University of California, San Diego
	2004 - 2008 National Scientist Development Grant American Heart Association
	2001 - 2003 Postdoctoral Fellowship American Heart Association

Department of Developmental & Regenerative Biology

Postdoctoral Fellows: Xiaoqiang Cai, Bin Zeng

Summary of Research Studies:
Cardiogenesis, the induction and subsequent development of the heart, is a critical event during embryogenesis. Mutations in genes expressed in the early heart cause defective cardiac development, and are responsible for embryonic lethality and congenital heart disease, occurring in ~1% of live births and 10% of stillbirths in humans. The Cai laboratory uses mouse as a model system to study the molecular pathways controlling heart development and disease. Uncovering signaling cascades underlying early heart development also has great implications for the research of cardiac regenerative biology. Dr. Cai's previous research has showed that Isl1 (Islet1), a Lim-homeodomain transcription factor, labels a cardiac progenitor population that gives rise to the majority of cardiac segments (right ventricle, outflow tract and atria). Loss of Isl1 results in a malformed heart that lacks these cardiac segments during early heart development. In addition to the study of Isl1, Dr. Cai also discovered that T-box transcription factor Tbx20 plays critical roles in regulating cardiac cell proliferation and specification. More recently, Dr. Cai identified another cardiac progenitor population, Tbx18-expressing proepicardial and epicardial cells that can gives rise to both myocytes and non-myocytes cardiac lineages during early heart development. The Cai laboratory is currently performing research to decipher the transcriptional networks of Isl1 and Tbx20 in heart development. They are also interested in exploring the therapeutic potential of Isl1 and Tbx18 progenitor cells in cardiac repair and regeneration.

Cai CL, Martin JC, Sun Y, Cui L, Wang L, Ouyang K, Yang L, Bu L, Liang X, Zhang X, Stallcup WB, Denton CP, McCulloch A, Chen J, Evans SM. A myocardial lineage derives from Tbx18 epicardial cells. Nature 2008 Jul 3; 454(7200): 104-108.

Lin L, Cui L, Zhou W, Dufort D, Zhang X, Cai CL, Bu L, Yang L, Martin J, Kemler R, Rosenfeld MG, Chen J, Evans SM. Beta-catenin directly regulates Islet1 expression in cardiovascular progenitors and is required for multiple aspects of cardiogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007 May 29; 104(22): 9313-9318.

Sun Y, Liang X, Najafi N, Cass M, Lin L, Cai CL, Chen J, Evans SM. Islet 1 is expressed in distinct cardiovascular lineages, including pacemaker and coronary vascular cells. Dev Biol 2007 Apr 1; 304(1): 286-296.

Ai D, Liu W, Ma L, Dong F, Lu MF, Wang D, Verzi MP, Cai CL, Gage PJ, Evans S, Black BL, Brown NA, Martin JF. Pitx2 regulates cardiac left-right asymmetry by patterning second cardiac lineage-derived myocardium. Dev Biol 2006 Aug 15; 296(2): 437-449.

Park EJ, Ogden LA, Talbot A, Evans S, Cai CL, Black BL, Frank DU, Moon AM. Required, tissue-specific roles for Fgf8 in outflow tract formation and remodeling. Development 2006 Jun; 133(12): 2419-2433.

Lin L, Bu L, Cai CL, Zhang X, Evans S. Isl1 is upstream of sonic hedgehog in a pathway required for cardiac morphogenesis. Dev Biol 2006 Jul 15; 295(2): 756-763.

Yang L, Cai CL, Lin L, Qyang Y, Chung C, Monteiro RM, Mummery CL, Fishman GI, Cogen A, Evans S. Isl1Cre reveals a common Bmp pathway in heart and limb development. Development 2006 Apr; 133(8): 1575-1585.

Cai CL, Zhou W, Yang L, Bu L, Qyang Y, Zhang X, Li X, Rosenfeld MG, Chen J, Evans S. T-box genes coordinate regional rates of proliferation and regional specification during cardiogenesis. Development 2005 May; 132(10): 2475-2487.

Laugwitz KL, Moretti A, Lam J, Gruber P, Chen Y, Woodard S, Lin LZ, Cai CL, Lu MM, Reth M, Platoshyn O, Yuan JX, Evans S, Chien KR. Postnatal isl1+ cardioblasts enter fully differentiated cardiomyocyte lineages. Nature 2005 Feb 10; 433(7026): 647-653.

Cai CL, Liang X, Shi Y, Chu PH, Pfaff SL, Chen J, Evans S. Isl1 identifies a cardiac progenitor population that proliferates prior to differentiation and contributes a majority of cells to the heart. Dev Cell 2003 Dec; 5(6): 877-889.