Endocrine Abstracts

Cellular transplantation has enormous potential for treating a variety of degenerative or malignant conditions. While adult stem cells display limitations in expansion capacity and developmental potential, embryonic stem (ES) cells are an inexhaustable source of tissues for research and therapy. During the last decade, human ES cells have been isolated, and differentiated to several tissue-specific progenitors. In vitro differentiating ES cells recapitulate early steps ...

Male and female germline development during sexual differentiation differs significantly. While in the testicular microenvironment primordial germ cells differentiate into a stem cell, the spermatogonium, the female pathway leads to the establishment of a limited pool of oocytes arrested in prophase of meiosis. Recently, exciting research has improved the understanding of pathways involved in germ cell differentiation and maintenance of pluripotency. In vitro and in ...

Our group studies the cell biological mechanisms of neurogenesis in the context of mammalian brain evolution, specifically the proliferation versus differentiation of neuroepithelial (NE) cells and their progeny. In the course of neurogenesis, mouse NE cells down-regulate a number of epithelial features. Expression of the anti-proliferative gene Tis21 can be used as a tool to distinguish between proliferating and neuron-generating NE cells. Time-lapse microscopy of neuron-gene...

The pancreas originates from the definitive endoderm-derived gut epithelium. Much has been learnt about the specification of the gut endoderm into pancreatic progenitors and their progenies, the endocrine (islets of Langerhans) and exocrine cells, by various transcription factors. However, less is known about the extracellular cues that regulate the expression of such transcription factors. Human ES cells have emerged as a potential tool for studying human pancreas development...