August 2015

CTR Members and Researchers at The Babraham Institute, Paulina Latos and Myriam Hemberger (et al) have recently had a paper published in Nature Communications: Fgf and Esrrb integrate epigenetic and transcriptional networks that regulate self-renewal of trophoblast stem cells.

CTR Members and Researchers at The Babraham Institute, Paulina Latos and Myriam Hemberger (et al) have recently had a paper published in Nature Communications: Fgf and Esrrb integrate epigenetic and transcriptional networks that regulate self-renewal of trophoblast stem cells. In collaboration with the Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, they have begun to unpick the network of molecular interactions essential for trophoblast stem (TS) cells to maintain their self-renewal potential. TS cells are a stem cell population that provides a great research tool to study early processes in placental development as they can give rise to all the different cell types forming the placenta. The researchers' efforts focused on a master regulator of gene expression called Esrrb (oestrogen-related receptor beta). In mice, loss of Esrrb causes defects in placental development which means that a developing embryo cannot be supported. The researchers found that Esrrb is critical for TS cells to maintain their undifferentiated stem cell identity and once Esrrb gene expression was lost, TS cells differentiated into distinct cell types. Well done to both of you on this ground-breaking research!