Heart development requires a controlled hypoxic environment. Maternal factors like high-altitude living, hypertension, anemia, pulmonary diseases, preeclampsia, drug abuse, and smoking can lead to prolonged fetal hypoxia, causing congenital heart defects. Our lab aims to understand if prolonged hypoxia alters the expression of glycosyltransferases (GTs) and protein glycosylation during embryonic development in a hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-dependent manner. We're also investigating if prolonged hypoxia affects the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and cellular mechanotransduction. Using Xenopus tropicalis and primary cultures, we study these effects to gain insights into cardiac development under hypoxic conditions.

Cecilia Arriagada obtained her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Universidad Austral de Chile, where she elucidated the role of GOLPH3 in the tumoral phenotype and its impact on EGFR trafficking. After completing her Ph.D., she conducted postdoctoral research at Universidad de Chile, investigating signaling pathways involved in tumor cell migration. She then pursued further postdoctoral training at Rutgers University (USA), studying the role of fibronectin, an extracellular matrix protein, in congenital heart diseases and received an American Heart Association postdoctoral fellowship. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Universidad San Sebastian.

Dr. Cecilia is an active faculty member at Universidad San Sebastián, where she heads and supervises practical activities in the Cellular Biology course. She also contributes to practical sessions in the Advanced Cellular Biology course.