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Juan Carlos I. Belmonte

 

Juan Carlos I. Belmonte

Juan Carlos I. Belmonte

Professor
Gene Expression Laboratory

"Our ultimate goal is to try to understand the molecular and cellular basis of organ and tissue regeneration."

Historically, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been derived from the inner cell mass of mammalian blastocysts–the balls of cells that develop after fertilization and go on to form a developing embryo. Not surprisingly, a media stir accompanied the first report that adult human cells (such as skin cells) had been reprogrammed back into so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that appear to mimic hESCs in terms of appearance and behavior.

Despite the hope that reprogramming might fulfill the promise of patient-specific hESCs in research and medicine and bypass the ethical minefield of working with human eggs and early embryos, several challenges remain: For one, the reprogramming process is woefully inefficient. Researchers have to slip several genes inside the cells, and after three to four weeks, only a tiny fraction will transmogrify into cells that look and act like pluripotent human embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately, adding extra genes also carries the risk of inducing cancer, and most importantly, it is still not clear whether these cells really have the same properties and potential as embryonic stem cells.

Last year, Belmonte and his team discovered that starting with keratinoctyes attached to a single human hair rather than a skin biopsy increased the reprogramming efficiency using the standard set of genes about one hundredfold, sparing patients invasive procedures to collect suitable starting material. The researchers then successfully differentiated the resulting iPS cells into the many cell types that constitute our bodies, including cardiomyocytes (heart cells), showing that iPS cells could be used to generate mature cell types that would not be rejected by the patient's immune system after transplantation.

Preliminary results from Belmonte's lab hint that patientspecific iPS cells–genetically engineered to correct genetic defects–could also be useful for the treatment of genetic diseases. Mice with Fanconi's anemia, a hereditary disease that is characterized by bone marrow failure, fully recovered after treatment with iPS cells derived from a Fanconi anemia patient and in which the underlying gene mutation had been fixed.

Lab Photo

Left to right: Teruhisa Kawamura, Jotaro Suzuki, Scott Stewart, Athanasia Panopoulos, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, May Schwarz, Christopher Walsh, Sergio Ruiz, Sungtae Kim Not pictured: Ilir Dubova

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Juan Carlos I. Belmonte

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Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte

Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte

Professor
Gene Expression Laboratory

Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, studies how genes and molecules orchestrate the development of an embryo. The questions addressed by the laboratory include: How does one cell give rise to millions of cells, and how do they come to be organized into complete structures such as limbs, a heart or brain? How stems cells differentiate and give rise to over 200 cell types that constitute the human body? How certain animals are able to regenerate their tissues and organs, i.e., what are the genetic pathways responsible for epimorphic regeneration, a complex biological process by which animals can regenerate tissues and even entire organs throughout their lifetime after injury or amputation?

The Izpisúa Belmonte laboratory utilizes different in vivo (mouse, chick, frog, and axolotl) and in vitro (human and mouse stem cells) model systems, as well as in silico modeling approaches, with particular emphasis on the genetic pathways involved in heart and bone development and regeneration. Their research has helped to discover some of the molecules that instruct embryonic stem cells to give rise to specific cell types during embryo development, and how these cells interact with one another to form tissues and organs with proper morphology and function. This ensures that our body's organs develop and function correctly and, at the same time, are placed in their correct positions.

In addition to improving our knowledge on early human development, the research activities of Dr. Izpisúa Belmonte's laboratory are relevant to understanding the causes that underlie human birth defects, as well as to the future development of regenerative medicine.

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