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Project

in vivo model for MECP2 - related diseases using iPSC and xenotransplantation

Given the uniqueness of the human brain and the difficulty to study the brain of patients at the cellular and molecular levels (neuronal material/brain biopsy), the advent of human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) has offered new opportunities to study human neural development in health and disease. We apply since 2014 the iPSC technology, to model neurodevelopmental disorders in vitro, such as MECP2 duplication syndrome and Rett syndrome. In this project, we will collaborate with Prof. Vanderhaeghen, whose laboratory pioneered in in vitro models of corticogenesis, whereby PSC are differentiated efficiently into cortical pyramidal projection neurons, and who has started to develop models of xenotransplantation, where human neurons derived from PSC can be transplanted into the mouse cortex, and then develop in vivo. We will combine these two technologies in order to develop an in vivo human model of MECP2 related disorders, both Rett syndrome and MECP2 duplication syndrome

Date:30 Oct 2019 →  Today
Keywords:MECP2, molecular neuroscience, genetics
Disciplines:Developmental neuroscience, Developmental genetics
Project type:PhD project