Guang Li PhD

The Li Lab uses human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived heart organoids and mice as primary research models. Recently, the lab generated a comprehensive single-cell RNA sequencing dataset encompassing 18 developmental stages of mouse hearts during embryonic and neonatal periods. This dataset, published in Nature Communications, represents a valuable resource for the field. The lab has also analyzed the heterogeneity and function of cardiac fibroblasts at different stages of mouse heart development, with the results published in eLife. Moreover, the lab has generated an atlas of mouse spatial transcriptomic data using sequencing-based approaches, including Slide-seq and Visium. This work is currently under revision at Nature Communications. Building on these studies, the lab currently is focusing on the generation of large imaging datasets including immunofluorescence staining, single-cell RNA-seq, and spatial transcriptomics images, to train deep learning models for analyzing cardiac cell states under normal and disease conditions.

The lab also reported the generation of atrial and ventricular heart organoids, which were used to model chamber deficiencies in a hiPSC line carrying a point mutation in the Nkx2-5 gene. This study was published in Communications Biology. More recently, the lab has further improved the organoid model by inducing additional cardiac cell types, such as endothelial and epicardial cells. The lab has also developed multi-chambered organoids with detailed structures, including valves. The long-term goal of the lab is to generate 4-chambered heart organoids to model disease progression.