The Ogle Laboratory
Faculty > Brenda M. Ogle
Brenda M. Ogle
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering (primary);
Material Science Program (affiliate)
ogle@wisc.edu
Organ System/Disease Focus
Cardiovascular Disease
Aligned Research Focus
Tissue engineering of cardiac muscle and blood vessels
Research Description
The use of stem cells for cardiovascular regenerative medicine is limited by the relative lack of knowledge related to the transformation of progenitor cells to differentiated, fully functional cells in vivo.
In the past few years, scientists have been able to generate from stem cells in vitro most cell types of the cardiovascular system, including endothelial cells, fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes. However, cells derived in this manner contribute less effectively than more primitive cells to tissues generated ex vivo, and extended culture time is not conducive to emergency situations. Thus, regeneration of tissues of the cardiovascular system may require transfer or recruitment of progenitor cells to the site of disease or injury prior to differentiation.
We are focusing on identifying mechanisms whereby stem cells of the cardiovascular system are compelled to differentiate in nature.
Selected References
Ogle BM, Butters KB, Plummer TB, Ring KR, Knudsen B, Litzow MR, Cascalho M, Platt JL. Spontaneous fusion of cells between species yields transdifferentiation and retroviral transfer in vivo. FASEB Journal 18:548-550. 2004.
Ogle BM, Cascalho M, Platt JL. Fusion of approaches to the treatment of organ failure. American Journal of Transplantation 4(6):74-77. 2004.
Ogle BM and Platt JL. The biology of cell fusion. American Scientist 92(5):420-427. 2004.
Ogle BM, Cascalho M, Platt JL. Biologic implications of cell fusion. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 6(7):567-575. 2005.
Ogle BM, Platt JL. “Genetic engineering of organs” in Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. eds, Wnek G and Bowlin G. Marcel Dekker, Inc. NY. In Press.