Luis Hortells, PhD
Research Interests:
- Intracardiac nervous system development, function and pathological remodeling.
- Cell biology of cardiac Schwann cells and endoneurial cardiac fibroblast.
- Role of ‘non-excitable’ cells in arrhythmogenesis.
- In vivo and in vitro cardiovascular disease model development.
Brief CV:
Luis obtained his DVM (Doctor in Veterinary Medicine) and his MSc Degreed from the University of Zaragoza, Aragon. After that, he obtained a grant from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Catalonia) to develop his internship in small animal medicine and surgery. Then, and for the next 4 years, he worked as an assistant professor in the molecular toxicology department of the University of Zaragoza while he also devolped his PhD research. In 2016, Luis obtained his PhD and moved to the US where he developed 4 years of postdoctoral research. During his time in the Heart Institute of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital he obtained a postdoctoral Scholarship from the American Heart Association and also was awarded with the Arnold Strauss award to perform independent research. Since early 2021 Luis moved to the IEKM with the goal of starting his own group focused on the study of the intracardiac nervous system while maintaining a close collaboration with groups from the University of Zaragoza, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital or University of Colorado, Denver.
Selected Publications:
- Hortells L, Meyer EC, Thomas ZM, Yutzey KE. Periostin-expressing Schwann cells and endoneurial cardiac fibroblasts contribute to sympathetic nerve fasciculation after birth. J Mol Cell Cardiol 2021/154:124-136
- Hortells L […] Molkentin JD, Yutzey KE. A subpopulation of Periostin-expressing fibroblasts is required for cardiac muscle and neuronal maturation after birth. PNAS 2020/117:21469-21479
- Hortells L, Guillen N, Sosa C, Sorribas V. Several phosphate transport processes are present in vascular smooth muscle cells. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2020/318:H448-H460
- Agnew EJ, Velayutham N, Matos Ortiz G, Alfieri CM, Hortells L […] Yutzey KE. Scar formation with decreased cardiac function following ischemia/reperfusion injury in 1 month old swine. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis 2019/7:1
- Hortells L, Johansen AKZ, Yutzey KE. Cardiac fibroblasts and the extracellular Matrix in regenerative and nonregenerative hearts. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis 2019/6:29
- Hulin A, Hortells L […] Yutzey KE. Maturation of heart valve cell populations during postnatal remodeling. Development 2019/146:dev173047
- Hortells L, Sur S, St. Hilaire C. Cell Phenotype Transitions in Vascular Calcification. Front Cardiovasc Med 2018/5:27
- Xue Y, St. Hilaire C, Hortells L, Phillippi JA, Sant V, Sant S. Shape-specific nanoceria mitigate oxidative stress-induced calcification in primary human valvular interstitial cell culture. Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering 2017/10:483-500
- Hortells L […] Millan A, Sorribas V. Identifying early pathogenic events during vascular calcification in uremic rats. Kidney Int 2017/92:1384-1394
- Hortells L, Sosa C, Millan A, Sorribas V. Critical parameters of the in vitro method of vascular smooth muscle cell calcification. PLoS One 2015/10:e0141751