Perwez Alam, Ph.D. Restoring the Healing Power of the Heart

Unlocking how heart cells communicate to regenerate, repair, and thrive.

RESEARCH
INTEREST

My research focuses on alternative approaches to elicit cardiomyocyte-centric protective interventions for myocardial injuries. Cardiomyocytes are the unit of cardiac contractility and constitute about two-thirds of the total cardiac volume, therefore, play a significant role in maintaining the cardiac microenvironment. In the past decade, studies have demonstrated the pivotal role of paracrine signaling as a primary mechanism underlying various cellular and molecular-based interventions to repair cardiac injury. In fact, such approaches essentially rejuvenate the cardiac extracellular microenvironment to regulate signaling pathways across cell types and improve wound healing. However, the role of cardiomyocyte-mediated paracrine signaling to non-myocytes in defining the overall physiological, and pathological response in the heart after injury has yet to be determined. We have previously reported that the activation of the cell cycle in adult cardiomyocytes through external interventions induces the cardiac rejuvenation-associated pathway and reprograms paracrine signaling from cardiomyocytes; which improves angiogenesis, cell survival, and immune response to restrict wound expansion. This signifies the importance of specific intercellular communication in cardiac health, disease, and therapeutic development. Therefore, our central premise is that paracrine signaling-mediated intercellular communication in the heart plays a critical role in restoring heart function and cardiac injury repair.

Our current research focuses on delineating the underpinning mechanism of cardiac rejuvenation and investigating its translational benefits for cardioprotection. In our laboratory, we utilize various cellular and molecular techniques in in vitro and in vivo setups, including transgenic mouse models. Our approach includes gene manipulation, omics-based analysis, secretome analyses, cardiac remodeling, cardiac wound healing, and heart function. The long-term goal of my research is to identify novel pathways and therapeutic targets for effective therapeutic interventions for injured hearts.

To this end, our specific research topics are:

  1. Investigating mechanisms of induced cardiac rejuvenation and associated mechanisms of cardioprotection.
  2. Delineating the critical cardiomyocyte-to-non-myocyte cellular cross-talk that mediates injury repair processes.
  3. Determining cardiomyocyte-specific stressors during myocardial injuries and defining cell-specific targets to enhance cardioprotective interventions.

Therapeutic Innovations for Cardiac Regeneration

Advancing strategies that harness cellular mechanisms and regenerative pathways to restore heart function.

Intercellular Signaling in the Heart

Investigating cardiomyocyte-driven communication networks that coordinate cardiac repair and response to injury.

Reversing Senescence to Protect the Aging Heart

Targeting age-related decline through rejuvenation-based interventions to preserve cardiac health and function.

Publication

Rafeeq PHA, Kanisicak O, Alam P. Induced Mitophagy Promotes Cell Cycle Re-Entry in Adult Cardiomyocytes. 2025 June. DOI: 10.3390/cells14120853.

Alam P, Huang W, Adam M, Nieman M, Stutenroth S, Tranter M, Wang Y, Kanisicak O. MCM2 mediates post-MI cardioprotection by promoting the pro-angiogenic cardiosome signaling. bioRxiv. 2024 December. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.12.628232.

Alam P, Tharp DL, Bowles HJ, Grisanti LA, Bui H, Bender SB, Bowles DK. Genetic silencing of KCa3.1 inhibits atherosclerosis in ApoE null mice. bioRxiv. 2024 December. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.11.628017.

Perwez Alam, Ph.D. 

Assistant Research Professor

Pathology & Integrative Biomedical Sciences

Investigator-Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center

University of Missouri

Columbia-MO 65211

© 2024 alamlab

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