Medical Research Council Professor & Director, Wellcome Trust-MRC Stem Cell Institute

Email: agssec@cscr.cam.ac.uk

Research Interests

We study embryonic stem (ES) cells and derivative tissue stem cells. Our goal is to understand the molecular foundations of self-renewal and commitment. We are investigating determinants of the decision to retain or exit pluripotency and the mechanism of lineage choice. We are also interested in the relationship between stem cell lines propagated in culture and progenitor cells in vivo. We are analysing the degree of conservation between pluripotent cells from different mammalian species in order to determine whether there are generic principles underlying embryonic stem cell properties. We hope to apply the knowledge gained to control the derivation, expansion and differentiation of human stem cells. We interact with clinical scientists and bioindustry to facilitate uptake and use of stem cells in the study of disease mechanisms and for drug discovery.

Key publications

Stirparo, G. G., Boroviak, T., Guo, G., Nichols, J., Smith, A., and Bertone, P. (2018.). Integrated analysis of single-cell embryo data yields a unified transcriptome signature for the human pre-implantation epiblast. Development, 145, dev158501

Kalkan, T., Olova, N., Roode, M., Mulas, C., Lee, H.J., Nett, I., Marks, H., Walker, R., Stunnenberg, H.G., Lilley, K.S., Bertone, P. and Smith, A. (2017). Tracking the embryonic stem cell transition from ground state pluripotency. Development 144, 1221-1234.

Guo, G., von Meyenn, F., Rostovskaya, M., Clarke, J., Dietmann, S., Baker, D., Sahakyan, A., Myers, S., Bertone, P., Reik, W., Plath, K. and Smith, A. (2017). Epigenetic resetting of human pluripotency. Development 144, 2748-2763.

Guo, G., von Meyenn, F., Santos, F., Chen, Y., Reik, W., Bertone, P., Smith, A.,* and Nichols, J.* (2016). Naive Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived Directly from Isolated Cells of the Human Inner Cell Mass. Stem Cell Reports 6, 437-446.

Boroviak, T., Loos, R., Lombard, P., Okahara, J., Behr, R., Sasaki, E., Nichols, J., Smith, A.,* and Bertone, P.* (2015). Lineage-Specific Profiling Delineates the Emergence and Progression of Naive Pluripotency in Mammalian Embryogenesis. Developmental Cell 35, 366-382.

Takashima, Y. , Guo, G., Loos, R., Nichols, J., Ficz, G., Krueger, F., Oxley, D., Santos, F., Clarke, J., Mansfield, W., Reik, W., Bertone, P. & Smith, A. (2014) Resetting Transcription Factor Control Circuitry toward Ground-State Pluripotency in Human. Cell 158, 1254-1269.

Areas of expertise

Pluripotency, embryonic stem cells, self-renewal, early embryo