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Centre for Trophoblast Research

 

Research

Mechanisms of lineage specification in human embryos and stem cells

This project investigates the genetic (and epigenetic) requirements that maintain the stem cell state of murine TS cells. Specifically, we will focus on the central role that the transcription factor ELF5 plays in the trophoblast compartment. We will identify the transcription factor circuit that Elf5 establishes in conjunction with other key TS cell genes like Cdx2 and Eomes. This transcriptional network will be compared to that of other important stem cell types, most notably ES cells, to identify the shared, as well as distinct, features of ‘stemness’ in the trophoblast compartment. We will also address the protein complexes that ELF5 is associated with to exert its function, and assess whether dys-regulation of ELF5 protein levels skews self-renewal or differentiation of trophoblast cells both in vitro and in transgenic mouse models in vivo.

 

Funding: Centre for Trophoblast Research Next Generation Fellowship

Publications

Key publications: 

Latos P.A., Barlow D.P. (2009) Regulation of imprinted expression by macro non-coding RNAs. RNA Biol. 6,  100-6

Latos P.A., Stricker S.H., Steenpass L., Pauler F.M., Huang R., Senergin B.H., Regha K., Koerner M.V., Warczok K.E., Unger C., Barlow D.P., (2009) An in vitro ES cell imprinting model shows that imprinted expression of the Igf2r gene arises from an allele-specific expression bias. Development, 136 (437-48)

Regha K., Latos P.A., Spahn L., (2006) The imprinted mouse Igf2r/Air cluster- a model maternal imprinting system. Cytogenet Genome Res., 113 (165-77)

Next Generation Research Fellow

Contact Details

+44 (0)1223 496 508