Philpott Lab

Research Interests

Cell Division versus Differentiation in Development and Disease.

Research Area

Mechanisms that link the cell cycle and differentiation are poorly understood, and still less is known about how developmental cues are linked to cell cycle exit. Our laboratory is interested in understanding the coordination of cell proliferation with cell fate determination and differentiation in the early Xenopus frog embryo as well as in ES cells and mouse models. This image on the right is a blastula stage Xenopus embryo showing multiple, synchronously dividing cells. We focus particularly on development of the embryonic nervous system, along with differentiation of endocrine lineages in the gut and pancreas, where the decision to divide or differentiate is controlled by the activity of proneural transcription factors. Recently, we have been investigating links between the core cell cycle machinery and mechanisms of differentiation. We see that cell cycle components directly control several modes of post-translational regulation of these proneural transcription factors, which in turn, regulates the balance between precursor cell maintenance and differentiation.

Current Members

Philpott, Anna (Principal Investigator/Director)

Alumni