Area A: Regenerative Biology and Related Sciences

Area A is dedicated to basic research in support of the Cluster of Excellence’s overall objective, namely to develop and improve regenerative therapies. The main research activities are related to exploring basic mechanisms of epigenetic reprogramming, to better understanding the biology and behaviour of stem cells of various origins, and to unravelling molecular mechanisms crucially involved in organogenesis, cell differentiation, proliferation and senescence. The ultimate aim of these endeavours is to obtain the necessary basic knowledge that allows us to devise effective strategies for improving regenerative processes and for translating these into novel therapeutic solutions. We have developed a multidisciplinary approach to research that includes important model organisms such as the mouse, rat and pig.

More specifically, research in the field of stem cell biology focuses on developing therapeutically useful reprogrammed cells, deriving novel pluripotent cell sources from postnatal tissues, determining typical features, controlling differentiation by defined reagents and safe methods of transgenesis, and finally validating their functionality in appropriate models. Projects in the field of organogenesis, differentiation and proliferation address fundamental questions relating to the role of transcriptional regulators, the stem cell glycome and cell-to-cell communication, mechanisms that regulate cell proliferation and cell death and thus limit regeneration, and specific intercellular and intracellular signalling cascades that act during regenerative processes by combining in vivo approaches in vertebrate model organisms and biochemical analyses.