Abdenour Soufi

Biography

Background

2015: Group leader, Chancellor’s fellow, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK

2010-2014: Postdoc, Prof Ken Zaret lab, Cell and Development Biology Department, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, US

2007-2009: Postdoc, Dr Sheela Jayaraman lab, School of Immunity and Infection, University of Birmingham, UK

2002-2006: PhD, Dr Kevin Gaston and Dr Sheela Jayaraman labs, Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, UK

2002: BSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Bristol, UK

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Katharine Furlong

Ivana Gachulincová

Asier Galarza Torre

Michael O'Dwyer

Research summary

Chromatin structure and cellular identity

The ability to convert any human cell to other specialised cell types of the body will allow the regeneration of tissues and organs as well as develop personalised therapies. It is now possible to reprogram biopsied human cells to become induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are very similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells. These cells are pluripotent and can potentially give rise to all cell types of the body. However, this cellular reprogramming method is highly inefficient and relies on the genetic manipulation of factors that have been associated with tumours. We aim to design reprogramming factors that are efficient and safe to use in the clinic.

Aims and areas of interest

Our ultimate goal is to design synthetic factors that can convert any cell in the body to a specific cell type of interest. We aim to learn from how the naturally occurring reprogramming factors interact with the genome and other molecules in the cell to change cell types.

We are particularly interested in how the reprogramming factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) convert fibroblasts to iPS cells. We found that the OSKM factors interact with genome in fibroblasts differently from that in ES cells. We also found that OSKM are initially blocked from accessing large chunks of the fibroblast genome, which are needed for complete reprogramming. Based on these abilities and limitations of the OSKM factors, we are currently establishing new approaches to produce custom-made reprogramming factors in the lab.

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