Publications related to Prof. Constam Group

Deciphering the nature of cell state transitions in single cells using quantitative modeling of temporal dynamics

Cells are the smallest operational units of living systems. Through synthesis of various biomolecules and exchange of signals with the environment, cells tightly regulate their composition to realize a specific functional state. The transformation of a cel ...

EPFL2024

Accessible and highly observable gastrointestinal organoid model systems for studying host-pathogen interactions

Moritz Hofer

Traditional cell cultures have long been fundamental to biological research, offering an alternative to animal models burdened by ethical constraints and procedural intricacies, often lacking relevance to human physiology and disease. Moreover, their inabi ...

EPFL2024

A single-cell-based characterization of mammalian adipose stem and progenitor cell heterogeneity and function

Pernille Yde Rainer

White adipose tissue (WAT) is a cellularly heterogeneous endocrine organ that not only serves as a reservoir for storing and releasing energy but also actively participates in metabolic homeostasis. Given the current rise in obesity and its associated como ...

EPFL2023

Programming of Multicellular Patterning with Mechano-Chemically Microstructured Cell Niches

Pierre Osteil

Multicellular patterning of stem-cell-derived tissue models is commonly achieved via self-organizing activities triggered by exogenous morphogenetic stimuli. However, such tissue models are prone to stochastic behavior, limiting the reproducibility of cell ...

WILEY2023

Engineered substrates incapable of induction of chondrogenic differentiation compared to the chondrocyte imprinted substrates

Philippe Renaud, Shahin Bonakdar, Leila Montazeri, Zahrasadat Ghazali

It is well established that surface topography can affect cell functions. However, finding a reproducible and reliable method for regulating stem cell behavior is still under investigation. It has been shown that cell imprinted substrates contain micro- an ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2023

Unlocking Hidden Potential: Exploring the Complexities of Signaling in Immune Cell Activation to Optimize CAR Therapy

Mathieu Girardin

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are synthetic, transmembrane proteins that trigger immune cell signaling following their engagement. They have been first utilized in T cells and later in natural killer (NK) cells to redirect their cytotoxicity toward a s ...

EPFL2023

Deciphering the molecular events leading to the global restoration of the chromatin landscape during mitotic exit

Silja Michelle Placzek

Two fundamental properties of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are their ability to self-renew and differentiate into all somatic cell types. Maintenance of their identity faces major challenges when transitioning through mitosis, as most DNA-binding proteins a ...

EPFL2023

Low temperature and mTOR inhibition favor stem cell maintenance in human keratinocyte cultures

Kai Johnsson, Yann Barrandon, Johannes Alexander Mosig, Thomas Michael Braschler, Ariane Rochat, Jean-Baptiste Bureau, Fahd Azzabi Zouraq, Mako Kamiya

Adult autologous human epidermal stem cells can be extensively expanded ex vivo for cell and gene therapy. Identifying the mechanisms involved in stem cell maintenance and defining culture conditions to maintain stemness is critical, because an inadequate ...

WILEY2023

Regulation and function of a hemicleaved Activin-A processing intermediate in melanoma

Manon Bulliard

Activin-A is a Transforming Growth Factor-B (TGFB)-related cytokine that regulates various biological processes including cell proliferation and differentiation through autocrine, paracrine or endocrine signaling. Activin-A expression is upregulated in mul ...

EPFL2023

In vitro endoderm emergence and self-organisation in the absence of extraembryonic tissues and embryonic architecture

Stefano Davide Vianello

In humans, mice, and other mammals key internal organs such as the gut, the lungs, the pancreas, and the liver all derive from the same embryonic tissue: the endoderm. The development of all of these structures thus depends on a same set of early cells, an ...

EPFL2022

Differential impact of TGF beta/SMAD signaling activity elicited by Activin A and Nodal on endoderm differentiation of epiblast stem cells

Pierre Osteil

Allocation of cells to an endodermal fate in the gastrulating embryo is driven by Nodal signaling and consequent activation of TGF beta pathway. In vitro methodologies striving to recapitulate the process of endoderm differentiation, however, use TGF beta ...

WILEY2022

Immunosuppressive roles of Activin-A in melanoma and characterization of its precursor cleavage

Katarina Pinjusic

Activin-A, a transforming growth factor ê µ family member, is a pleiotropic cytokine with diverse functions in development, fertility, adult tissue homeostasis, and aging. Accordingly, deregulation of Activin-A signaling has been associated with many patho ...

EPFL2022

A satellite DNA array barcodes chromosome 7 and regulates totipotency via ZFP819

Didier Trono, Gabriela Ecco, Helen Mary Rowe

Mammalian genomes are a battleground for genetic conflict between repetitive elements and KRAB-zinc finger proteins (KZFPs). We asked whether KZFPs can regulate cell fate by using ZFP819, which targets a satellite DNA array, ZP3AR. ZP3AR coats megabase reg ...

2022

Capturing Cardiogenesis in Gastruloids

Matthias Lütolf, Romain Guiet, Nicolas Antoine Vincent Broguiere, Giuliana Rossi, Andrea Boni, Mehmet Ugur Girgin

Organoids are powerful models for studying tissue development, physiology, and disease. However, current culture systems disrupt the inductive tissue-tissue interactions needed for the complex morphogenetic processes of native organogenesis. Here, we show ...

CELL PRESS2021

In vitro modeling of early mouse development

Mehmet Ugur Girgin

Previous attempts to recapitulate embryogenesis in a developmentally relevant context started with aggregates composed of a few thousand ESCs, termed embryoid bodies (EB), that upon induction of differentiation reveal a surprising level of autonomous cell ...

EPFL2020

Tp63-expressing adult epithelial stem cells cross lineages boundaries revealing latent hairy skin competence

Yann Barrandon, Ariane Rochat, Stéphanie Claudinot, Paola Bonfanti, Christèle Gonneau, Daniel-Alexandre Littman

The formation of hair follicles, a landmark of mammals, requires complex mesenchymal-epithelial interactions and it is commonly believed that embryonic epidermal cells are the only cells that can respond to hair follicle morphogenetic signals in vivo. Here ...

Nature Research2020

A single-cell-based identification and characterisation of Aregs, an inhibitory subpopulation of adipose stem and precursor cells

Magda Zachara

Adipose tissue is an essential element in energy conservation mechanisms. Its unique plasticity is driven by the ability of adipocytes to accumulate and liberate lipids as a function of the energetic status of the organism. Given the recent rise in the glo ...

EPFL2020

Modeling metabolic and signaling pathways in cancer cells

Maria Masid Barcon

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the world, and the mechanisms that underlie this disease are still not completely understood. As cancer develops and progresses, cells undergo a diversity of mutations that sustain their rapid proliferation and the eva ...

EPFL2020

Wnt-controlled sphingolipids modulate Anthrax Toxin Receptor palmitoylation to regulate oriented mitosis in zebrafish

Françoise Gisou van der Goot Grunberg, Laurence Gouzi Abrami

Oriented cell division is a fundamental mechanism to control asymmetric stem cell division, neural tube elongation and body axis extension, among other processes. During zebrafish gastrulation, when the body axis extends, dorsal epiblast cells display divi ...

Nature Publishing Group2020

Engineered signaling centers for the spatially controlled patterning of human pluripotent stem cells

Matthias Lütolf, Felix Naef, Yoji Tabata, Eric Paquet, François Réal Rivest, Ambroise Roger Vuaridel, Andrea Manfrin

Signaling centers, localized groups of cells that secrete morphogens, play a key role in early development and organogenesis by orchestrating spatial cell fate patterning. Here we present a microfluidic approach that exposes human pluripotent stem cell (hP ...

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP2019