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Dr. Rafal Ciosk
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI)
Maulbeerstrasse 66
CH-4058 Basel/Switzerland |
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Rafal Ciosk is a Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel. His group is interested in understanding mechanisms controlling totipotency (developmental plasticity). During development, totipotency is unleashed in an embryo, following the oocyte-to-embryo transition. Changes in histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, global Pol II regulation, and translational regulation of gene expression, are all thought to steer this transition. However, the causal relation between these events and their importance for the acquisition of developmental plasticity remain unclear. To understand mechanisms regulating totipotency, his lab is using a simple model, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, combining genomics, molecular biology, and biochemistry with a powerful genetics of this organism. A long-term goal of this group is to identify genes and pathways that could restore developmental potential to already differentiated cells, with implications for regenerative medicine. The group has numerous collaborations with other scientists working in Switzerland, France, and USA.
For additional details, see http://www.fmi.ch/ciosk.r
Recent publications related to stem cell research:
- Ciosk R, DePalma M, and Priess J. (2006). Translational regulators maintain totipotency in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Science 311, 851-3.
- Biedermann B, Wright J, Senften M, Kalchhauser I, Sarathy G, Lee M-H, and Ciosk R (2009). Translational repression of cyclin E prevents precocious mitosis and embryonic gene activation during C. elegans meiosis. Dev Cell 17, 355-364.
- Wright JE, Gaidatzis D, Senften M, Farley BM, Westhof E, Ryder SP, and Ciosk R (2011). A quantitative RNA code for mRNA target selection by the germline fate determinant GLD-1. EMBO J 30, 533-45.
- Kalchhauser I, Farley BM, Pauli S, Ryder SP, and Ciosk R (2011). FBF represses the Cip/Kip cell cycle inhibitor CKI-2 to promote self-renewal of germline stem cells in C. elegans. EMBO J 30, 3823-9.
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