The Chow group is interested in the study of heart valve development, disease, and regeneration. The lab develops novel micromanipulation methods to perturb mechanical forces in the zebrafish heart and combines these methods with computational modelling, live imaging, and genetics to uncover the role of mechanical signals caused by heartbeat and blood flow on heart valve biology.

 

Video above: Blocking blood flow by inserting a bead into the heart stops the valve leaflet from being released during embryonic development. Note that the valve leaflet opens and closes during heartbeat in the control embryo (left panel) but remains stuck to other cells in embryos where a bead has been inserted.

Group Members

Research Themes

  • Heart valve development, disease, and regeneration
  • Mechanobiology
  • Cell-based therapies (endothelial progenitor cells)

Featured Publications

Authors Title Published In

Chow RW, Fukui H, Chan WX, Tan KSJ, Roth S, Duchemin AL, Messaddeq N, Nakajima H, Liu F, Faggianelli-Conrozier N, Klymchenko AS, Choon Hwai Y, Mochizuki N, Vermot J.

Cardiac forces regulate zebrafish heart valve delamination by modulating Nfat signaling.

PLoS Biol. 14;20(1):e3001505. (2022)

Fukui H, Chow RW, Xie J, Foo YY, Yap CH, Minc N, Mochizuki N, Vermot J.

Bioelectric signaling and the control of cardiac cell identity in response to mechanical forces.

Science. 15;374(6565):351-354. (2021)

Cairelli, AG, Chow RW, Vermot J, Yap CH.

Fluid Mechanics of the Zebrafish Embryonic Heart Trabeculation.

PLoS Computational Biology. 18(6): e1010142. (2022)

Chow RW, Lamperti P, Steed E, Boselli F, Vermot J.

Following Endocardial Tissue Movements via Cell Photoconversion in the Zebrafish Embryo.

J. Vis. Exp (132), e57290, doi:10.3791/57290 (2018)

Chow RW, Almeida AD, Randlett O, Norden C, Harris WA.

Inhibitory neuron migration and IPL formation in the developing zebrafish retina.

Development. 142(15):2665-77 (2015)

More Publications

Authors Title Published In

Lam YT, Hsu CJ, Simpson PJL, Dunn LL, Chow RW, Chan KH, Yong ASC, Yu Y, Sieveking DP, Lecce L, Yuan J, Celermajer DS, Wise SG, Ng MKC.

Androgens Stimulate EPC-Mediated Neovascularization and Are Associated with Increased Coronary Collateralization.

Endocrinology. 1;161(5):bqaa043. (2020)

Duchemin AL, Vignes H., Vermot J, Chow RW.

Mechanotransduction in cardiovascular morphogenesis and tissue engineering.

Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 57, 106–116. (2019)

R Ferreira R, Fukui H, Chow RW, Vilfan A, Vermot J.

The cilium as a force sensor-myth versus reality. 

J Cell Sci. 2019 Jul 30;132(14):jcs213496. (2019)

Fukui H, Miyazaki T, Chow RW, Ishikawa H, Nakajima H, Vermot J, Mochizuki N.

Hippo signaling determines the number of venous pole cells that originate from the anterior lateral plate mesoderm in zebrafish.

Elife. 29;7:e29106. (2018)

Chow RW, Vermot J.

The rise of photoresponsive protein technologies applications in vivo: a spotlight on zebrafish developmental and cell biology.

F1000Res (2017)

Dunn LL, Simpson PJ, Prosser HC, Lecce L, Yuen GS, Buckle A, Sieveking DP, Vanags LZ, Lim PR, Chow RW, Lam YT, Clayton Z, Bao S, Davies MJ, Stadler N, Celermajer DS, Stocker R, Bursill CA, Cooke JP, and Ng MK.

A critical role for thioredoxin-interacting protein in diabetes-related impairment of angiogenesis.

Diabetes. 63:67587. (2014)

Almeida AD. Boije H, Chow RW, He J, Tham J, Suzuki SC, Harris WA.

Spectrum of Fates: a new approach to the study of the developing zebrafish retina.

Development. 141:1-10 (2014)

Kechad A, Jolicoeur C, Tufford A, Mattar P, Chow RW, Harris WA, Cayouette M.

Numb is required for the production of terminal asymmetric cell divisions in the developing mouse retina.

The Journal of Neuroscience. 32(48):17197-210 (2012)

Sieveking DP, Lim P, Chow RW, Dunn LL, Bao S, McGrath KC, Heather AK, Handelsman DJ, Celermajer DS, Ng MK.

A sex-specific role for androgens in angiogenesis.

J Exp Med. 207(2):345-52. (2010)

Chow RW, Handelsman DJ, Ng MK.

Minireview: rapid actions of sex steroids in the endothelium.

Endocrinology. 151(6):2411-22 (2010)

Sieveking DP, Chow RW, Ng MK.

Androgens, angiogenesis and cardiovascular regeneration.

Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 17(3):277-83 (2010)

Gill S, Chow R, Brown A.

Sterol regulators of cholesterol homeostasis and beyond: The oxysterol hypothesis revisited and revised.

Progress in Lipid Research. 47(6):391-404. (2008)