KEYWORDS

General and specific keywords describing our research interests and methods.

GENERAL KEYWORDS

CORE RESEARCH AREAS

  • Biophysics, Cardiac physiology, Heart disease, Cardiovascular medicine
  • Bioenergetics, Cellular energetics, Metabolism
  • Electrophysiology, Cell biology, Systems biology, Computational biology
  • Skeletal muscle physiology, Muscle physiology
  • Excitation-contraction coupling
  • Calcium signaling, Intracellular signaling
  • Mitochondrial biology, Oxidative phosphorylation
  • Molecular transport, Cellular compartmentalization
  • Comparative biology

DISEASE AREAS & THERAPEUTIC TARGETS

  • Heart failure, Cardiac disease, Cardiovascular disorders
  • Ischemic heart disease, Cardiac aging, Cardiomyopathy
  • Metabolic diseases, Metabolic syndrome
  • Muscle wasting disorders, Exercise physiology
  • Cardioprotection, Therapeutic development

RARE DISEASES

  • Creatine deficiency syndrome, Creatine metabolism disorders
  • AGAT deficiency, Genetic metabolic disorders
  • Rare genetic cardiomyopathies

MAJOR BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES

  • Energy metabolism, Metabolic regulation, Metabolic coupling
  • Cellular respiration, ATP synthesis, Energy transfer
  • Energetic signaling
  • Protein phosphorylation, Cell signaling pathways
  • Calcium homeostasis, Cardiac contraction
  • Molecular diffusion, Intracellular transport
  • Gene expression regulation, Protein regulation

ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS & TECHNOLOGIES

  • Advanced microscopy, Custom microscope design, Live cell imaging, Super-resolution imaging
  • Patch clamp, Respirometry, Single-cell analysis
  • Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), Raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS)
  • Computational modeling, Mathematical modeling
  • Tissue engineering

STATISTICAL & COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES

  • Bayesian statistics, Statistical modeling
  • Data integration
  • Predictive modeling, Simulation methods
  • Algorithm development, Software development

SEX & GENDER DIFFERENCES

  • Sex differences in disease, Gender-specific medicine
  • Precision medicine, Personalized medicine
  • Hormonal influences, Sex-specific therapeutics

DEVELOPMENTAL & COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY

  • Developmental biology, Cardiac development
  • Comparative physiology, Evolutionary biology
  • Model organisms, Animal models, Fish

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

  • Instrument development, Scientific software, Research tools development
  • Database development, Data management
  • Imaging technology, Analytical methods
  • Open science, Reproducible research
  • Laboratory automation

SPECIFIC KEYWORDS

CELLULAR BIOENERGETICS & METABOLISM

  • ATP/ADP/AMP ratios, Phosphorylation potential, Energy debt
  • Oxidative phosphorylation, Glycolytic capacity, Metabolic stability
  • Creatine kinase system (MM-CK, MB-CK, BB-CK, Mis-CK)
  • Adenylate kinase system (AK1, AK2, AK3, AK4)
  • Phosphotransfer systems, PCr/Cr shuttle, Energy relay networks
  • Metabolic coupling, Compartmentalized metabolism, Energy buffering
  • Hexokinase activity and regulation (HK I, HK II)
  • Pyruvate kinase coupling, Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) system
  • Metabolic switching, Substrate channeling, Metabolic flexibility
  • Fatty acid oxidation, Glucose metabolism, Citric acid cycle regulation

CARDIAC PHYSIOLOGY & EXCITATION-CONTRACTION COUPLING

  • Cardiomyocyte isolation, Cardiac mechanics, Mechano-energetic coupling
  • Calcium dynamics, Calcium sparks, Calcium transients, Calcium waves
  • Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), Ryanodine receptors (RyR2)
  • SERCA, Phospholamban (PLB), Calsequestrin
  • L-type calcium channels (LTCC), Sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX)
  • Action potential clamp, Electrophysiology, Patch clamp techniques
  • β-adrenergic signaling, cAMP compartmentalization, PKA signaling
  • Force-frequency relationships, Heart rate dependencies
  • Excitation-contraction coupling maturation, Dyadic cleft function

CELLULAR STRUCTURE & COMPARTMENTALIZATION

  • Sarcomeres, Myofibrils, Z-discs, M-bands, I-bands
  • Transverse tubules (t-tubules), T-tubule orientation analysis
  • Mitochondrial networks, Intermyofibrillar mitochondria
  • Cellular architecture, Spatial organization, Diffusion barriers
  • Macrocompartments, Microcompartments, Energetic compartmentalization
  • Contact sites, Junctional membranes, Ca²⁺ release units (CRUs)
  • Cytoskeletal framework, Microtubule networks
  • VDAC (voltage-dependent anion channels), ANT (adenine nucleotide translocase)

ADVANCED MICROSCOPY & IMAGING TECHNIQUES

  • Confocal microscopy, Super-resolution microscopy, dSTORM
  • Raster image correlation spectroscopy (RICS)
  • Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS)
  • Single-molecule tracking, Live cell imaging
  • Custom confocal microscope design, Automated image acquisition
  • Point spread function characterization, Photon counting detectors
  • 3D imaging, Calcium imaging, Fluorescence microscopy
  • TIRF microscopy, Wide-field fluorescence imaging

MOLECULAR TRANSPORT & DIFFUSION

  • Molecular diffusion, Anisotropic diffusion, Diffusion coefficients
  • Diffusion restrictions, Lattice-like barriers, Size-dependent diffusion
  • Molecular crowding effects, Bound vs free molecular fractions
  • Intracellular transport, Motor proteins (kinesins, dyneins, myosins)
  • Brownian motion, Directed transport, Protein trafficking
  • Compartmentalized signaling, Local concentration gradients

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY & MATHEMATICAL MODELING

  • Reaction-diffusion equations, Michaelis-Menten kinetics modeling
  • Multi-compartment metabolic models, Monte Carlo simulations
  • 3D diffusion simulations, Finite element method (FEM)
  • Stochastic modeling, Parameter optimization, Model validation
  • Exchange coefficient determination, Nested model comparisons
  • Bayesian analysis, Mathematical modeling of cellular processes

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS & DATA PROCESSING

  • Bayesian statistics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
  • Statistical modeling, Posterior probability distributions
  • Bayesian information criteria (BIC), Parameter estimation
  • Linear mixed models, Cross-correlation analysis
  • Signal processing, Time series analysis, Autocorrelation function

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMICAL METHODS

  • Spectrophotometric enzyme assays, Coupled enzyme systems
  • Western blotting, Gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE analysis
  • Respirometry, Oxygen consumption measurements
  • ADP titration protocols, Mitochondrial respiration kinetics
  • Chemical inhibitor studies, Pharmacological analysis
  • High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT & DATA MANAGEMENT

  • Scientific software development, Python programming
  • Open-source software, Cross-platform development
  • Database systems (SQLite, PostgreSQL), SQLAlchemy
  • FAIR principles, Reproducible research, Metadata management
  • IOCBIO software suite, Image analysis software
  • Version control systems, Laboratory information management

DISEASE MODELS & PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

  • Heart failure, Cardiac disease, Creatine deficiency syndrome
  • AGAT knockout mice, GAMT knockout mice, Metabolic cardiomyopathy
  • Ischemic heart disease, Cardiac aging, Muscle wasting disorders
  • Transgenic mouse models

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY & COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY

  • Cardiac ontogeny, Neonatal vs adult cardiomyocytes
  • Developmental transitions, Cardiomyocyte maturation
  • Fish vs mammalian cardiac physiology, Species comparisons
  • Temperature adaptation, Evolutionary adaptations

SEX DIFFERENCES & GENDER-SPECIFIC RESEARCH

  • Sex differences in cardiac function, Male vs female cardiomyocytes
  • Gender-specific cardiac disease, Sex hormones and cardiac function
  • Oestrogen/testosterone effects on heart, Hormonal regulation

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY & INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES

  • Systems biology, Biophysics, Bioengineering
  • Network organization, Structure-function relationships
  • Hierarchical organization, Energetic signaling networks
  • Applied mathematics, Computational methods