Katrin Ottersbach
Professor of Developmental Haematology / Cancer Research UK Fellow
- Centre for Regenerative Medicine
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 651 9500
- Email: katrin.ottersbach@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Centre for Regenerative Medicine
Institute for Regeneration and Repair
The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh BioQuarter
5 Little France Drive - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4UU
Background
2015 - Current: MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK - Principal Investigator
2012 - 2015: Wellcome Trust – MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, UK - Principal Investigator
2006 - 2015: Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, UK - Principal Investigator
2001 - 2006: Group of Prof. Elaine Dzierzak, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Postdoctoral Fellow
Qualifications
1997 - 2001: CRC Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, UK - PhD: MIP-1a: A Structure-Function Study, supervisor Prof. Gerard Graham
1993 - 1997: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK - BSc with Honours in Biochemistry: First Class
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Current PhD students supervised
Eric Antunes
Alasdair Duguid
Leslie Nitsche
Past PhD students supervised
Vasiliki Symeonidou
Nada Zaidan
Chrysa Kapeni
Wendi Bacon
Neil Barrett
Maria Mascarenhas
Bahar Mirshekar-Syahkal
Research summary
Developmental origins of blood stem cells and leukaemia
Blood stem cells have the ability to produce every blood cell type and are therefore of immense clinical importance. Our group investigates how these cells are first generated during foetal development, how they can be maintained and what their unique properties are. A further interest of our group is how these early blood cells are targeted by mutations that can lead to cancer development in infant patients.
Aims and areas of interest
One major part of my group's research is to understand how the first haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are generated during development and how their subsequent expansion, migration and differentiation are regulated. A particular focus in this context is the identification of the cellular and molecular composition of the microenvironment that facilitates the emergence of HSCs and how this composition changes as HSCs mature and migrate in the developing foetus. The ultimate aim is to dissect out the specific components required for particular HSC functions so that the right conditions can be recreated to achieve HSC generation, expansion and differentiation in vitro. We have recently demonstrated that the transcription factor Gata3 via its role in the sympathetic nervous system is required for HSC production, thus functionally linking these two co-developing systems. We are continuing our studies on how exactly catecholamines, the mediators of the sympathetic nervous system, act on emerging HSCs. We also have evidence that Gata3 performs additional functions during HSC emergence which we are currently investigating.
Embryonic and foetal haematopoietic cells have unique properties with respect to proliferation response and differentiation bias. These are important in the context of HSC expansion and certain types of infant leukaemia that have a prenatal origin, and are another area of interest in the lab. We are particularly interested in infant leukaemias that have chromosomal rearrangements at the MLL locus as these have a particularly poor prognosis. Using MLL-AF4 and MLL-AF9 as examples, our aim is to characterise the foetal-specific context that contributes to disease development and how these oncofusions compromise normal blood development. The overall aim is to identify more specific therapeutic targets and to develop faithful in vivo models in which these can be tested.
Affiliated research centres
Current project grants
Cancer Research UK Programme Foundation Award
Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund project grant
Blood Cancer UK project grant
Past project grants
LLR Bennett Senior Fellowship
Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund Intermediate Fellowship
British Society of Haematology Early Stage Investigator Fellowship
University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Fellowship
Organiser
Annual Molecular Haemopoiesis meeting
- Cancer Research UK
- Blood Cancer UK (formerly LLR; Bloodwise)
- Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund
- Prof. Juerg Schwaller, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
- Prof. Bertie Göttgens, University of Cambridge, UK
- Dr. Chris Halsey, University of Glasgow, UK
- Dr. Kristina Kirschner, University of Glasgow, UK
- Prof. Rose Zamoyska, University of Edinburgh, UK
- Dr Karen Keeshan, University of Glasgow, UK
- Prof. Pablo Menendez, University of Barcelona, Spain
- Prof. Thomas Milne, University of Oxford, UK