Journal of Cell Science & Therapy
Open Access
ISSN: 2157-7013
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2157-7013
+44 1300 500008
Maria Vrontakis
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Cell Sci Ther
Th e neuroendocrine peptide galanin is one of the most highly expressed genes in both human and mouse ESCs and the embryonic tissues of many species. Galanin is thus considered a marker of ?stemness? and pluripotency. All three galanin receptors are present in ESCs, suggesting that the peptide may be biologically active. Th ere are enough indications to suggest a highly dynamic role of galanin in ESCs and in committing the fate of ES cells. Th e variety of cellular eff ect of galanin may depend on the environment surrounding the cells and possibly diff erential activation of its receptors. Th e switch from self-renewal to diff erentiation of ESCs might be triggered by a combination of other signals and coordinated changes in recruitment of epigenetic modulators and transcription factors to the promoter region. Th e strength of the intracellular signaling may aff ect the negative or positive regulatory elements of the galanin gene to use diff erent intracellular pathways to mediate diff erent cell function in ES cells
Dr. Maria Vrontakis received her MD and her PhD degrees from the University of Athens. Following a residency in internal Medicine and Endocrinology, she was a research and clinical fellow in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Sloan Kettering Institute at Cornel University in New York and later at the Physiology department of the University of Manitoba. She is currently Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Her lab has done pioneered studies on the neuropeptide galanin. Galanin has been shown to be involved in neural regeneration, pain, obesity, depression and Alzheimer?s disease. She is currently working towards the therapeutic actions of galanin, using the galanin transgenic model, which she has developed in her lab. With the recent interest in using bone marrow stem cells to treat various neurological conditions, the extent to which galanin promotes neurogenesis is being studied in her laboratory, using modern molecular and cellular techniques.