Prof. Dr. Lukas Sommer

 

Main Goals, Keywords

Molecular and cellular mechanisms governing neural stem cell development. Emphasis on signaling networks regulating neural crest stem cells (Neural stem cell; neural crest; neuron; glia; determination and differentiation; extracellular growth factors; transcription factors).

Group Members

1 professor, 3 postdocs, 8 PhD students, 1 TA

Previous and Current Research

Multipotent stem cells have to generate various differentiated cell types in correct number and sequence during neural development. How this is achieved is of fundamental importance not only to basic neurobiologists but also with regard to the potential medical use of stem cells for cell and tissue replacement therapies. The neural crest is an embryonic population of multipotent stem cells that generates various cell types of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Neural crest-derived cells with stem cell properties turned out to be an ideal model system to study stem cell biology, both because of their unique potential to generate neural and non-neural cell types and because of their accessibility to a variety of experimental manipulations. Experiments in animal model systems and cell culture assays have been successful approaches to identify key factors regulating self-renewal and fate decisions in neural crest stem cells. Moreover, investigations of neural stem cells of the CNS enable us to elucidate similarities and differences between distinct types of stem cells with neural potential. The basic scientific questions addressed in our studies serve as foundation for more applied stem cell research that include the study of disease mechanisms involving aberrant neural crest stem cell development and tumor formation.

Techniques and Equipment

Stem cell culture assays and conditional gene ablation in vivo. Standard molecular biology including isolation and characterization of genes expressed in neural stem cells and their derivatives; expression analysis by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, and microarray technology.

Selected Publications

• Fuchs, S., Herzog, D., Sumara, G., Büchmann-Møller, S., Civenni, G., Wu, X., Chrostek-Grashoff, A., Suter, U., Ricci, R., Relvas, J.B., Brakebusch, C., Sommer, L. Stage-specific control of neural crest stem cell proliferation by the small rho GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1. Cell Stem Cell 6; 4(3): 236-247 (2009).

• Falk, S., Wurdak, H., Ittner, L.M., Ille, F., Sumara, G., Schmid, M.T., Draganova, K., Lang, K.S., Paratore, C., Leveen, P., Suter, U., Karlsson, S., Born, W., Ricci, R., Götz, M., Sommer L. Brain area-specific effect of TGF-beta signaling on Wnt-dependent neural stem cell expansion. Cell Stem Cell 8; 2(5): 472-483 (2008).

• Wong, C.E., Paratore, C., Dours-Zimmermann, M.T., Rochat, A., Pietri, T., Suter, U., Zimmermann, D.R., Dufour, S., Thiery, J.P., Meijer, D., Beermann, F., Barrandon, Y., Sommer L. Neural Crest-Derived Cells with Stem Cell Features Can Be Traced Back to Multiple Lineages in the Adult Skin The Journal of Cell Biology, 175(6), 1005-1015 (2006). 

Selected Lectures, Seminars, Colloquia

Teaching Embryology for Medical Students, University of Zurich:

• Cell Biology
• Embryology and Cellular Differentiation
• Developmental Biology

Funding

Swiss National Science Foundation, NCCR 'Neural Plasticity and Repair', OncoSuisse

URL

http://www.unizh.ch/anatom/