Dr. Boudewijn PT Kruithof
Research:
My research focuses on the mechanical, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the tissue remodeling in heart valve disease and cardiac fibrosis. Because the native environment is a major regulator of the behavior of the cells in these processes, I make use of models in which the 3D-structure of the tissue remains intact. I have developed ex vivo culture models for human cardiac tissue, ex vivo flow models for mouse and fetal human hearts and make use of in vivo mouse models. In these models I study the mechanical and molecular regulation and the involvement of inflammation, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, calcification, and extracellular matrix reorganization in the remodeling of cardiac valves and fibrosis during heart disease.
Curriculum Vitae:
I did my PhD at the University of Amsterdam, in conjunction with a short period at the Medical University of South Carolina, focusing on the formation of cardiac muscle during the early development of the heart. After I moved to the USA to work at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey where I focused on the post-natal maturation of the cardiac valves and at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York working on the role of the transcription factor TBX5 in epicardium formation. In the LUMC I work in the groups of prof. MJ Goumans at the department of Cell and Chemical Biology and prof. MJ Schalij at the department of Cardiology studying valvular biology and cardiac fibrosis.
Publications
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The roadmap of WT1 protein expression in the human fetal heart.
Duim SN, Smits AM, Goumans MJ, Kruithof BP
J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2016 Jan;90:139-45.
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Culturing Mouse Cardiac Valves in the Miniature Tissue Culture System.
Kruithof BP, Lieber SC, Kruithof-de Julio M, Gaussin V, Goumans MJ.
J Vis Exp. 2015 Oct 19;(105).
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Cardiac endothelial cells express Wilms' tumor-1: Wt1 expression in the developing, adult and infarcted heart.
Duim SN, Kurakula K, Goumans MJ, Kruithof BP
J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 Apr;81:127-35.
