Dr. Stuhlmann's laboratory research program focuses on the identification and characterization of stem/progenitor cells of the endothelial cell lineage. While much attention has been paid to bone-marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells, less is known about embryo-derived endothelial stem cells. Their research is aimed at the identification, cell lineage tracing, and therapeutic potential of endothelial stem cells derived during in vitro differentiation of ES cells and from angiogenic mesoderm of the yolk sac and the embryo proper. Their approach is to tag endothelial stem/progenitor cells that express the early endothelial gene Egfl7 with a fluorescent marker, thus allowing the following of the progenitors during cell lineage differentiation, both in vitro and in vivo. A second focus in the Stuhlmann lab is to understand the role of Egfl7 in the germ cell lineage and during placental development, using mouse molecular genetic approaches. Recent studies have shown that, in addition to its expression in the endothelial cell lineage and its progenitors, Egfl7 is expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells, embryonic germ (EG) germ cells, and in migrating primordial cells as well as during spermatogenesis.
Campagnolo L, Moscatelli I, Pellegrini M, Siracusa G, Stuhlmann H. Expression of EGFL7 in primordial germ cells and in adult ovaries and testes. Gene Expr Patterns. 2008 Jul;8(6):389-96.
Gowher H, Stuhlmann H, Felsenfeld G. Vezf1 regulates genomic DNA methylation through its effects on expression of DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3b. Genes Dev. 2008 Aug 1;22(15):2075-84.
Lewis JD, Destito G, Zijlstra A, Gonzalez MJ, Quigley JP, Manchester M, Stuhlmann H. Viral nanoparticles as tools for intravital vascular imaging. Nat Med. 2006 Mar;12(3):354-60.