KEYNOTE: Heart Valve Glycomechanobiology

The structure and function of the extracellular matrix (ECM) are enormously influential in the mechanical behavior of the heart valve tissues and the mechanobiology of valve cells. How proteoglycans fit into this mechanobiology framework, however, has somewhat murkier. Our research group has used a variety of experimental approaches to map out and quantify the presence of several types of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans within normal heart valves as a function of age, and to demonstrate how these ECM components change in various valve diseases. Further, we have shown that designing customized 3D culture environments containing the presence or absence of glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans will affect how heart valve cells behave and how they interact mechanically with their microenvironment. Conversely, we have cultured heart valves and valve cells under mechanical stimulation (organ culture, 3D culture, stretch, and shear) and demonstrated that this leads to the activation of various signaling pathways that govern heart valve tissue remodeling. This presentation will provide a survey of our research into the intersection of glycobiology and heart valve mechanobiology and highlight open questions within this fascinating research area.