Role of VEGF in Perinatal Hypertension

Role of VEGF in Perinatal Hypertension Role of VEGF in Perinatal Hypertension Dr. Shepherds focus on this project will be to develop a map of endothelial cell identity and lung structure in murine models of the developing neonatal lung. This task will involve the integration of optical tissue clearing, single cell RNA seq, endothelial cell maker selection from single cell RNA-Seq data, whole organ fluorescent labeling of selected markers, development of 3D optical methods (specifically light sheet microscopy), performing 3D/4D microscopy of ex vivo tissue explants and fixed whole lungs, volumetric image analysis, and interpretation. The Shepherd group will lead an effort to build a spatiotemporal map of endothelial cell identity during development and disrupted development. These analyses also assist other team members on the most informative time points and spatial compartments to focus efforts on. The Shepherd group will quantify endothelial cell distribution, VEGF signaling, and lung structure in ex vivo tissue explants and fixed lungs from other team members using single cell RNA seq, computational analyses of single cell RNA seq, adaptive light sheet microscopy, adaptive structured illumination microscopy, electrophoretic tissue clearing and labeling, Machine Learning approaches to identify endothelial cell location and fate determination during lung maturation. Dr. Shepherd will commit approximately 2.25 summer and 1.35 academic months per year to the project, and he will directly supervise one research assistant scientist at Arizona State University throughout the duration of the project.