Overview

Sophie Astrof received her Bachelor?s and Master?s degrees in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1995 in the laboratory of Dr. Abeles. She received her Ph.D. degree in Virology from Harvard University in 2000 in the laboratory of Dr. John A.T. Young. Consequently, she did her postdoctoral work with Dr. RIchard Hynes at MIT where she developed her interest in extracellular matrix biology and cardiovascular development. Astrof lab investigates mechanisms by which cell-extracellular matrix interactions orchestrate cardiovascular development and how alterations in these interactions cause congenital heart disease.

Education

PHD, 2000, Harvard University
MS, 1995, Brandeis University
BA, 1995, Brandeis University

Relevant Publications

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/sophie.astrof.2/bibliography/public/

Warkala M, Chen D, Ramirez A, Jubran A, Schonning MJ, Wang X, Zhao H, Astrof S. Cell ? ECM Interactions Play Multiple Essential Roles in Aortic Arch Development. Circ Res. 2020 Nov 30;. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.120.318200. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33249995; NIHMSID:NIHMS1650953.

Tomer D, Munshi S, Alexander B, French B, Vedula P, House A, Guvendiren M, Kashina A, Schwarzbauer JE, Astrof S. New mechanism of fibronectin fibril assembly revealed by live imaging and super-resolution microscopy. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2020 September; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.09.290130.

Ramirez A, Astrof S. Visualization and Analysis of Pharyngeal Arch Arteries using Whole-mount Immunohistochemistry and 3D Reconstruction. J Vis Exp. 2020 Mar 31;(157). doi: 10.3791/60797. PubMed PMID: 32310236; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7216781.

Wang X, Astrof S. Isolation of Mouse Cardiac Neural Crest Cells and Their Differentiation into Smooth Muscle Cells. Bio Protoc. 2017 Sep 5;7(17). doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2530. PubMed PMID: 28979923; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5624110.

Wang X, Chen D, Chen K, Jubran A, Ramirez A, Astrof S. Endothelium in the pharyngeal arches 3, 4 and 6 is derived from the second heart field. Dev Biol. 2017 Jan 15;421(2):108-117. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.12.010. Epub 2016 Dec 9. PubMed PMID: 27955943; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5221477.

Wang X, Astrof S. Neural crest cell-autonomous roles of fibronectin in cardiovascular development. Development. 2016 Jan 1;143(1):88-100. doi: 10.1242/dev.125286. Epub 2015 Nov 9. PubMed PMID: 26552887; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4725203.

Chen D, Wang X, Liang D, Gordon J, Mittal A, Manley N, Degenhardt K, Astrof S. Fibronectin signals through integrin a5?1 to regulate cardiovascular development in a cell type-specific manner. Dev Biol. 2015 Nov 15;407(2):195-210. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.09.016. Epub 2015 Oct 3. PubMed PMID: 26434918; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5312697.

Liang D, Wang X, Mittal A, Dhiman S, Hou SY, Degenhardt K, Astrof S. Mesodermal expression of integrin a5?1 regulates neural crest development and cardiovascular morphogenesis. Dev Biol. 2014 Nov 15;395(2):232-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2014.09.014. Epub 2014 Sep 19. PubMed PMID: 25242040; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4252364.

Pulina M, Liang D, Astrof S. Shape and position of the node and notochord along the bilateral plane of symmetry are regulated by cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Biol Open. 2014 Jun 13;3(7):583-90. doi: 10.1242/bio.20148243. PubMed PMID: 24928429; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4154294.

Course List

GSND5001Q		Responsible Conduct Resrch
BIOC5290Q		Critical Reading of the Litera
CBMM5020Q		Devel Biology & Stem Cells

Congenital heart disease is among the most prevalent forms of human birth defects. Our lab seeks to understand mechanisms regulating the development of the cardiovascular system and the processes that go awry in congenital heart disease. We are using genetics, cell biology, and 3-dimensional imaging to uncover signaling pathways and extracellular matrix-mediated communications among progenitors giving rise to the cardiovascular system. Our goals are to uncover cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms underlying congenital heart disease.