Information

Related Research Units

Cardiology Research
Cui Lab Research

Research Overview

Adult mammalian hearts lack the ability to regenerate. In contrast, the newborn mouse heart can effectively regrow the damaged tissue. Understanding how neonatal mouse hearts regenerate following injury provides an exciting new inroad into the possible mechanisms of cardiac regeneration and repair in adults. Dr. Cui aims to use systems-level approaches to discover the basic biological mechanisms underlying neonatal heart regeneration and leverage this information to identify therapeutic targets and translate these findings into studies of human cells and therapies for heart disease patients. Dr. Cui’s research uncovered previously unknown cellular components specific to neonatal heart regeneration, which have the potential to open up new areas of research in regeneration and beyond. Dr. Cui’s research combines genetics, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, tissue 3D imaging, cardiac injury models in mice, high-throughput screening, as well as cardiac (patho)physiology. The long-term goal of her research program is to understand the mechanisms underlying the distinct reparative abilities of different cardiac cell types during neonatal heart regeneration vs. pathological remodeling in adults, and ultimately to generate a comprehensive cellular and molecular blueprint for targeting cardiac regeneration in adult humans.
 

Publications

  1. Assessment and recalibration of seventeen lung cancer risk prediction models in approximately one million Chinese population utilising healthcare big data: a retrospective cohort analysis. Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2025 May; 58:101575. View Abstract
  2. Conduction system regeneration and remodeling after myocardial infarction. Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2025 Feb; 4(2):124-125. View Abstract
  3. Robust differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into mural progenitor cells via transient activation of NKX3.1. Nat Commun. 2024 09 30; 15(1):8392. View Abstract
  4. The PD-1-PD-L1 pathway maintains an immunosuppressive environment essential for neonatal heart regeneration. Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2024 Mar; 3(3):389-402. View Abstract
  5. Transcription factor NFYa controls cardiomyocyte metabolism and proliferation during mouse fetal heart development. Dev Cell. 2023 12 18; 58(24):2867-2880.e7. View Abstract
  6. Base editing correction of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in human cardiomyocytes and humanized mice. Nat Med. 2023 02; 29(2):401-411. View Abstract
  7. Precise genomic editing of pathogenic mutations in RBM20 rescues dilated cardiomyopathy. Sci Transl Med. 2022 11 23; 14(672):eade1633. View Abstract
  8. Dually stimulative single-chain polymeric nano lock with dynamic ligands for sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells. Biosens Bioelectron. 2022 Dec 01; 217:114692. View Abstract
  9. Association of neutralizing breadth against SARS-CoV-2 with inoculation orders of heterologous prime-boost vaccines. Med. 2022 08 12; 3(8):568-578.e3. View Abstract
  10. SARS-CoV-2 immunity and functional recovery of COVID-19 patients 1-year after infection. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 10 13; 6(1):368. View Abstract
  11. Nrf1 promotes heart regeneration and repair by regulating proteostasis and redox balance. Nat Commun. 2021 09 06; 12(1):5270. View Abstract
  12. Cardiac Myoediting Attenuates Cardiac Abnormalities in Human and Mouse Models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Circ Res. 2021 09 03; 129(6):602-616. View Abstract
  13. An Innovative Solvent-Responsive Coiling-Expanding Stent. Adv Mater. 2021 Aug; 33(32):e2101005. View Abstract
  14. Cell-Type-Specific Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying Murine Neonatal Heart Regeneration at Single-Cell Resolution. Cell Rep. 2021 May 25; 35(8):109211. View Abstract
  15. Clinical evidence of an interferon-glucocorticoid therapeutic synergy in COVID-19. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 03 03; 6(1):107. View Abstract
  16. Cell-Type-Specific Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying Murine Neonatal Heart Regeneration at Single-Cell Resolution. Cell Rep. 2020 12 08; 33(10):108472. View Abstract
  17. Dynamic Transcriptional Responses to Injury of Regenerative and Non-regenerative Cardiomyocytes Revealed by Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing. Dev Cell. 2020 Dec 07; 55(5):665-667. View Abstract
  18. Protocol for Single-Nucleus Transcriptomics of Diploid and Tetraploid Cardiomyocytes in Murine Hearts. STAR Protoc. 2020 09 18; 1(2):100049. View Abstract
  19. Dynamic Transcriptional Responses to Injury of Regenerative and Non-regenerative Cardiomyocytes Revealed by Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing. Dev Cell. 2020 04 06; 53(1):102-116.e8. View Abstract
  20. Mechanistic basis of neonatal heart regeneration revealed by transcriptome and histone modification profiling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 09 10; 116(37):18455-18465. View Abstract
  21. Conformational manipulation of scale-up prepared single-chain polymeric nanogels for multiscale regulation of cells. Nat Commun. 2019 06 20; 10(1):2705. View Abstract
  22. The Long Noncoding RNA Pnky Is a Trans-acting Regulator of Cortical Development In Vivo. Dev Cell. 2019 05 20; 49(4):632-642.e7. View Abstract
  23. Genetic and epigenetic regulation of cardiomyocytes in development, regeneration and disease. Development. 2018 12 20; 145(24). View Abstract
  24. Identification of a multipotent Twist2-expressing cell population in the adult heart. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 09 04; 115(36):E8430-E8439. View Abstract
  25. 5-Fluorouracil targets thymidylate synthase in the selective suppression of TH17 cell differentiation. Oncotarget. 2016 Apr 12; 7(15):19312-26. View Abstract

Contact Miao Cui

Phone: 617-919-2014
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