Ann F. Ramsdell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor


Room 621, Basic Science Building
Office: (843) 792-1620
Lab: (843) 792-0791

Email: ramsdell@musc.edu

Education:

BS College of Charleston, Charleston SC 1991
PhD MUSC, Charleston SC 1996

Research Interests:

The focus of Dr. Ramsdell's lab is to determine the morphogenetic and molecular mechanisms that direct generation of cardiac left-right asymmetry. Using both frog and chick models to identify novel laterality genes, studies in Dr. Ramsdell's lab address how the left-right body axis becomes established during early embryogenesis, how left-right axial patterning information becomes transmitted to developing cardiac tissues, and how the cardiac primordia interpret and respond to left-right positional cues. The ultimate goal of this work is to advance our understanding of the etiology of congenital heart defects, with an emphasis on the role that cardiac laterality genes play in overall vertebrate heart morphogenesis.

Recent Publications:

1. Martin LK, Bratoeva M, Mezentseva NV, Bernanke JM, Remond MC, Ramsdell AF, Eisenberg CA, Eisenberg LM. Inhibition of heart formation by lithium is an indirect result of the disruption of tissue organization within the embryo.  Dev Growth Differ. 2012 Feb;54(2):153-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-169X.2011.01313.x. Epub 2011 Dec 12.
2. Martin LK, Mezentseva NV, Bratoeva M, Ramsdell AF, Eisenberg CA, Eisenberg LM. Canonical WNT signaling enhances stem cell expression in the developing heart without a corresponding inhibition of cardiogenic differentiation.  Stem Cells Dev. 2011 Nov;20(11):1973-83. Epub 2011 Apr 3.
3. Ramsdell AF, Bernanke JM, Trusk TC. Left-right lineage analysis of the embryonic Xenopus heart reveals a novel framework linking congenital cardiac defects and laterality disease. Development. 2006 Apr;133(7):1399-410.
4. Ramsdell AF, Bernanke JM, Johnson J, Trusk TC. Left-right lineage analysis of AV cushion tissue in normal and laterality defective Xenopus hearts.
   Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2005 Dec;287(2):1176-82.
5. Ramsdell AF. Left-right asymmetry and congenital cardiac defects: getting to the heart of the matter in vertebrate left-right axis determination.
   Dev Biol. 2005 Dec 1;288(1):1-20. Epub 2005 Nov 11.
6. Tiedeken JA, Ramsdell JS, Ramsdell AF. Developmental toxicity of domoic acid in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2005 Sep-Oct;27(5):711-7. Epub 2005 Aug 2.
7. Chen Y, Whitaker LL, Ramsdell AF. Developmental analysis of activin-like kinase receptor-4 (ALK4) expression in Xenopus laevis.
   Dev Dyn. 2005 Feb;232(2):393-8.
8. Chen Y, Mironova E, Whitaker LL, Edwards L, Yost HJ, Ramsdell AF. ALK4 functions as a receptor for multiple TGF beta-related ligands to regulate left-right axis determination and mesoderm induction in Xenopus. Dev Biol. 2004 Apr 15;268(2):280-94.
9. Ramsdell AF, Yost HJ. Cardiac looping and the vertebrate left-right axis: antagonism of left-sided Vg1 activity by a right-sided ALK2-dependent BMP pathway. Development. 1999 Dec;126(23):5195-205.
10. Ramsdell AF, Yost HJ. Molecular mechanisms of vertebrate left-right development. Trends Genet. 1998 Nov;14(11):459-65.
11. Ramsdell AF, Moreno-Rodriguez RA, Wienecke MM, Sugi Y, Turner DK, Mjaatvedt CH, Markwald RR. Identification of an autocrine signaling pathway that amplifies induction of endocardial cushion tissue in the avian heart. Acta Anat (Basel). 1998;162(1):1-15.
12. Ramsdell AF, Markwald RR. Induction of endocardial cushion tissue in the avian heart is regulated, in part, by TGFbeta-3-mediated autocrine signaling. Dev Biol. 1997 Aug 1;188(1):64-74.