![Bin Zhou]()
Understanding Congenital Heart Disease—Valve replacement is currently the only treatment for narrowing (stenosis) or leakage of the aortic valve, through which oxygen-rich blood flows from the heart to the rest of the body. Using a mouse model, Bin Zhou, M.D.,Ph.D., and colleagues have shown that congenital anomalies of aortic valves and aortic valve stenosis are caused by imbalances in a signaling pathway involving Notch and TNFα proteins. The study was published on October 21, 2015 in the European Heart Journal. In addition to demonstrating that Notch-TNFα signaling is critical for normal valve development, the researchers also generated a new mouse model to study congenital aortic valve diseases and to find cures. Dr. Zhou is professor of genetics, of pediatrics and of medicine. First author of the paper is Dr. Yidong Wang, a postdoctoral fellow in the Zhou lab.
Posted on: Tuesday, November 10, 2015