Neuronal maturation and neurodegeneration

The laboratory is interested in the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms that govern cell identity, in particular pluripotency and the reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Being able to reprogram any specific mature cellular program into a pluripotent state and from there back into any other particular cellular program provides a unique tool to dissect the molecular and cellular events that permit the conversion of one cell type to another. Moreover, iPS cells and the reprogramming technology are of great interest in pharmaceutical and clinical settings, since the technology can be use to generate animal and cellular models for the study of various diseases as well in the future to provide specific patient tailor made cells for their use in cellular replacement therapies. However, despite being one of the major growing research fields very little is known about the epigenetic and transcriptome changes occurring during this process. Understanding the events leading to the generation of iPS cells is a necessary step to ultimately use iPS cell technology for therapeutic purposes. By using a broad array of approaches through the use of mouse models and a combination of different molecular, biochemical, cellular techniques and genome wide approaches, our lab will aim to dissect the nature and dynamics of such events.