Ms. Fitzsimons delivered a scientific talk detailing this project at the 2021 Costas T. Lambrew Research Retreat, a local, collaborative research symposium combining clinical and basic science research and made possible by Maine Medical Center, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, and the Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Network.
Ms. Fitzsimons and second-year UNE COM student Delanie Kneeland worked under the guidance of Dr. Tucker to characterize the presence and potential function of primary cilia in developing heart muscle cells. This project also included a unique clinical/translational aspect that included an analysis of primary cilia of human heart samples, which were obtained (in collaboration with the Maine Medical Center Biobank) from pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) with and without damage to the ventricular heart muscle.
When asked about the application of this research, Dr. Tucker responded:
“The ability to generate data both in a mouse model as well as with human tissue from pediatric patients holds particular promise for the translatability of the findings and may give us a new approach to treating some of the congenital defects found in newborn hearts. “
Ms. Fitzsimons also commented further on the innovation of the project:
“The exciting thing about this research is that it is still quite controversial whether the cells in question (heart muscle cells) even have primary cilia. Because of this, many researchers doubt and therefore disregard the possibility that the primary cilium might play a critical role in the development and organization of the myocardial tissue. Ultimately, the more we understand about how this tissue develops and organizes, the more information we have to use and apply in the context of medical/therapeutic interventions for CHD as well as in the field of regenerative medicine.”
Lindsey Fitzsimons, PhD Candidate from the University of Maine Graduate School of Biomedical Science & Engineering, is completing her doctoral research in the Tucker Laboratory at the University of New England, where she studies primary cilia, a tiny, sensory cell structure, in the context of embryonic heart development as well as the molecular and cellular disease events leading to the development of congenital heart defects. Ms. Fitzsimons also holds a teaching fellowship with the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she works as an Instructor for OCS-I in the Gross Anatomy Lab.