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Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group

Group Leader:

Dr. rer. nat. Felix Engel

Scientific focus:

It is generally believed that the human heart cannot regenerate. Instead, following injury, human hearts scar. This inadequate regenerative response contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. In the developed world, the prognosis for patients with symptomatic heart failure is worse than that associated with most cancers - about 30 percent mortality rate within 1 year. One of the reasons for this poor outlook is the fact that conventional treatment regimen fail to correct the problem of cardiomyocyte loss. By contrast with humans, zebrafish and newt faithfully regenerate many of their organs including heart. Interestingly, heart regeneration is in both cases based on cardiomyocyte proliferation. Dr. Engel and his colleagues are therefore working to identify mechanisms that regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation during heart development and allow the induction of proliferation in adult mammalian cardiomyocytes. In previous experiments, they have accumulated evidence that postnatal mammalian cardiomyocytes can divide. They have identified p38 MAPK as a key negative regulator of cardiomyocyte proliferation. Furthermore, they have shown that p38 inhibition enhances the proliferative capacity of neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes after growth factor stimulation.

 

Dr. Engel imagines that his work will result in a therapy for heart failure patients and congenital heart disease. In addition, he hopes to discover pathways allowing regeneration of organs other than the heart.

Major goals of Dr. Engel's research include:

  • to define the molecular mechanisms of cardiomyocyte proliferation
  • to induce cardiomyocyte proliferation in vivo
  • to induce cardiac regeneration in mammals and finally in humans
Downloads:
Contact:

Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group

Dr. rer. nat. Felix Engel

Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research

Parkstrasse 1

D-61231 Bad Nauheim

Tel.: +49 (0)6032 705-248 (office)

Tel.: +49 (0)6032 705-253 (lab)

Mobile: +49 (0)171 2237444

Fax: +49 (0)6032 705-211

About Felix Engel

Felix Engel received his PhD from Technical University Berlin and completed postgraduate training at Children's Hospital Boston / Harvard Medical School. Awards include Children's Hospital (Boston) Research Day Award (2005), a Charles H. Hood Foundation Child Health Research Grant $150.000 ($75.000 per year from 2006-2007), and the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award 1.100.000 Euro (12/06 to 12/10).

© 2013 Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany