Dan Garry Lab
About the Lab
Dan’s laboratory has a long-standing interest in regenerative and stem cell biology with a focus on the heart and skeletal muscle. In their studies of the heart and skeletal muscle, the Garry laboratory utilizes an array of technologies including gene disruption strategies, transgenesis, single cell genome analysis, gene editing (TALEN and CRISPR technologies), inducible ES/EB model systems, hiPSC technologies, FACS and other cellular, biochemical and molecular biological techniques.
In addition, their use of lower organisms such as zebrafish and newt, which are highly regenerative model systems have successfully uncovered critical regenerative factors. Human iPSCs are another important model for cardiovascular disease investigation for the lab. Using these technologies, the Garry lab was among the first to discover the molecular markers of stem cell populations that regulate critical networks during heart and skeletal muscle development and regeneration. For example, their studies have uncovered novel Ets and Forkhead transcription factors, microRNAs and signaling pathways that direct fate determination of stem cell populations. The manipulation of these pathways using chemical genetics and molecular technologies has provided a platform focused on rebuilding and repairing the injured heart and skeletal muscle.
Current Research Projects
Midwestern Progenitor Cell Consortium
The overall goal of this project is to mechanistically decipher the intracellular and extracellular networks that govern specification and differentiation of stem cells, focused on Nkx2-5, to the cardiovascular and hematopoietic lineages.
Learn more about Midwestern Progeintor Cell Consortium
Regulatory Mechanisms of Endothelial Development and Regeneration
The overall goal of this project is to define the regulatory cascades that govern stem cells and progenitors to promote cardiovascular regeneration.
Transcriptional Regulation of Cardiac Progenitors
(AHA DeHaan Cardiac Myogenesis Award)
This project is part of the University of Minnesota AHA-Jon Holden DeHaan Cardiac Myogenesis Research Center: Moving myogenesis from molecules to man. The major objectives of this project are the focus on Nkx2-5 transcriptional networks and the definition of signaling pathways that promote a cardiomyocyte fate using hiPSC and adult cardiac progenitors.
Media
Meet Dan Garry, M.D.
Muscular Dystrophy and Cardiovascular Disease
Selected News Articles
- NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium
- NIH press release 10/7/2009: NHLBI Awards $170 Million to Fund Stem Cell Research
- UMN: Major grant funds stem cell research collaboration; October 1, 2009
Job Openings
Postdoctoral Research Associate
The Dan Garry Lab is hiring a Research Associate specializing in Bioinformatics. We are accepting applications for highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to develop novel bioinformatic and computational methods for understanding the dynamic gene regulations and lineage hierarchies during cardiac, endothelial and hematopoietic development.