# Integrating imaging and computation to characterize neural crest cells in the myocardial development  and regeneration

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS · 2021 · $244,750

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Integrating imaging and computation to characterize neural crest cells in the myocardial development
and regeneration
Cardiac neural crest cells are a population of highly migratory cells emerging from the neural tube, migrating
through the pharyngeal arches and integrating into the developing heart. Recent advances demonstrate that a
new sub-population of neural crest cells has the capacity to integrate into the cardiac chamber and differentiate
into cardiomyocytes in both zebrafish and mice. Notch signaling regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation and
differentiation during ventricular chamber development. Despite the knowledge gained in the past decades, the
contribution of neural crest-derived cardiomyocytes to contractile function and the role of these cardiomyocytes
in Notch signaling-mediated ventricular remodeling remain elusive. The small heart size in zebrafish embryos
and neonatal mice also hinders precise cardiac structural and functional assessment. For these reasons, I seek
to integrate our advanced imaging (sub-voxel resolution light-sheet fluorescence microscopy, SV-LSFM) with
computation (displacement analysis of myocardial mechanical deformation, DIAMOND) to characterize the
structural and functional contributions of the neural crest-derived cardiomyocytes to the myocardial development
and regeneration with high spatiotemporal resolution. Under the joint mentorship from Professor Tzung Hsiai
(Mechanotransduction, UCLA), Professor Jau-Nian Chen (Developmental biology, UCLA) and Professor Debiao
Li (MR imaging, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), I will continue to collaborate with Professor Atsushi Nakano
(Developmental biology, UCLA) and Dr. Adam Langenbacher (Developmental biology, UCLA), and consult with
Professor Joseph Wu (Cardiac stem cells, Stanford), Professor Sandra Rugonyi (Oregon Health & Science
University), Professor Linda Demer (Vascular biology, UCLA) to test our hypothesis. We hypothesize that neural
crest cells contribute to the ventricular myocardium and neural crest-derived cardiomyocytes are essential for
the contractile function and ventricular repair. To test this hypothesis, we will have three aims. In Aim 1, we will
elucidate the 4-D migration path of cardiac neural crest cell via SV-LSFM. In Aim 2, we will demonstrate 4-D
structure and function following cardiac neural crest cell contribution to the ventricular myocardium via DIAMOND.
In Aim 3, I will independently quantify the ventricular repair following the ablation of neural crest-derived
cardiomyocytes in zebrafish and mouse models with my collaborators. In this context, we believe that the
integration of genetic models with advanced imaging and computation will provide new mechanical and
developmental insights into the contribution of neural crest cells to contractile function and ventricular repair
under the regulation of Notch signaling pathway.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10252944
- **Project number:** 5R00HL148493-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS
- **Principal Investigator:** Yichen Ding
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $244,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-04 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10252944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10252944, Integrating imaging and computation to characterize neural crest cells in the myocardial development  and regeneration (5R00HL148493-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10252944. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*