Regenerative Pharmacology

Research group: Sebastian Arnold
http://www.arnold-lab.com

Main research interest
- Transcriptional and epigenetic control of cell lineage specification
- Control of embryonic morphogenesis
- Molecular functions of Tbx-Transcription factors

The group is mainly interested in the molecular and morphogenetic processes at the time when pluripotent progenitor cells of the epiblast become specified to the three germ layers in the mouse embryo. We study the signals and transcriptional programs when pluripotency is lost and cells acquire their first lineage identities. Cell fates are determined by the position of cells within the embryo at certain critical time points, which reflects differences in their signalling environment. The specification of different cell identities is accompanied by the progressive restriction of developmental potential, reflected in epigenetic changes on the level of chromatin.
We study how these processes leading to different cell types of the embryo are coordinated during embryonic development and how the are regulated on the molecular level. In addition, we study how differences in behaviour of early cell types contributes to the morphogenesis of the gastrulation stage embryo.
Our work is based on combinations of mouse genetics, embryo imaging techniques and in vitro cell culture systems.