Marycruz Flores-Flores, Ph.D.

Research

In the Mosimann lab, I will explore how membrane potential—the distribution of ions across cell membranes that triggers various physiological functions—helps to orchestrate cardiac development. Dynamic shifts in membrane potential are generally associated with the activity of neurons, but these fluctuations also influence proliferation and migration in all types of cells. Now, using state-of-the-art methods in developmental genetics, single-cell RNA sequencing, and time-lapse imaging, I will dissect how differences in membrane potential lay the groundwork for the formation of electrically synchronized cells in the developing heart. I will assess how the differential activity of ion channels establishes this pattern and analyze how mutations that perturb membrane potential affect the establishment of cardiac cell connectivity, work that could reveal the basis of developmental defects that affect the heart.

Mentor

• Christian Mosimann, Ph.D., MSc.

Country of Origin

• Mexico