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Christa Muller-Sieburg, Dr. rer. nat., Professor
Immunology
Program Research ProgramStem Cell Biology Dr. Muller-Sieburg’s research is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate adult blood forming stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to regenerate all cells of the blood-forming (hematopoietic) system through a process called differentiation. Another key feature of stem cells is the ability to self-renew, which assures that the stem cell pool is maintained throughout life. The long-term persistence of stem cells and the wide distribution of their progeny throughout the body make stem cells ideally suited for gene therapy. In the treatment of cancer patients, stem cell transplantation is used for curative and supportive therapy. The transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells is explored in several other settings (e.g. treatment for autoimmune diseases, induction of tolerance for organ transplants). One major limitation to the broad application of stem cell therapy lies in the difficulty of manipulating and growing these cells without losing the essential characteristics of stem cells, their ability to differentiate and to self-renew. To overcome this limitation, to improve ex vivo stem cell maintenance, and to understand the basic biology of stem cells we are pursuing several approaches. Our research is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the maintenance of lympho-hematopoietic stem cells. Stem cells are defined by their ability to regenerate all cells of the blood-forming system. Another key feature of stem cells is the ability to self-renew, thereby maintaining the stem cell pool throughout the life span of an organism. The long-term persistence of stem cells and the wide distribution of their progeny throughout the body make stem cells ideally suited for gene therapy. In the treatment of cancer patients, stem cell transplantation is used for curative and supportive therapy. Moreover, stem cell transplantation is currently explored in treating autoimmune diseases. One major limitation to the broad application of stem cell therapy lies in the difficulty of manipulating and growing these cells ex vivo without loosing the essential characteristics of stem cells, their ability to differentiate and to self-renew. To overcome this limitation, to improve ex vivo stem cell maintenance, and to understand the basic biology of stem cells we are pursuing several approaches.Mesanchymal Stem Cells/Stromal Cells Quantitatitve Tools: Mathematics, Statistics, Modeling, and Data Bases |
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