Prof Dr Christa Maes - Cellular Interactions within the Vascular Bone and Marrow Microenvironment
Christa Maes
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KU Leuven, Belgium
Cellular Interactions within the Vascular Bone and Marrow Microenvironment
Research in the SCEBP lab (KU Leuven. Belgium) focuses on the molecular and genetic control of skeletal stem/progenitor cells (SSPCs) and osteoblasts, with special interests in how they crosstalk with the local bone vasculature and how they function to mediate skeletal development, homeostasis, and fracture repair. Much of this research is directed at understanding the mechanisms underlying the compromized bone homeostasis and regeneration in diabetes, osteoporosis, and ageing. In addition to these bone-centered functions, the SCEBP team investigates the skeletal interplay with other tissues and the broader impact of osteolineage cells in the organism, particularly how SSPCs and bone cells contribute to the regulation of hematopoiesis in the bone marrow environment, and of systemic energy metabolism and glucose homeostasis. The prime working models used in these studies in the SCEBP Lab are genetically modified mice, including in vivo lineage tracing approaches, high-resolution microscopy, flow cytometry, and molecular methods. Recent results from studies in our lab will be presented in this seminar, focusing on the interplay between the cells of bone and the local vasculature, and the repercussions thereof on the development and functioning of bone marrow hematopoiesis.
Selected references
* Toghani D, Gupte S, Zeng S, Mahammadov E, Crosse EI, Seyedhassantehrani N, Burns C, Gravano D, Radtke S, Kiem HP, Rodriguez S, Carlesso N, Pradeep A, Georgiades A, Lucas F, Wilson NK, Kinston SJ, Göttgens B, Zong L, Beerman I, Park B, Janssens DH, Jones D, Toghani A, Nerlov C, Pietras EM, Mesnieres M, Maes C, Kumanogoh A, Worzfeld T, Cheong JG, Josefowicz SZ, Kharchenko P, Scadden DT, Scialdone A, Spencer JA, Silberstein L. Nat Aging. 2025 Apr;5(4):558-575. doi: 10.1038/s43587-024-00798-7.
* Melis S, Trompet D, Chagin AS, Maes C. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2025 Mar;21(3):135-153. doi: 10.1038/s41574-024-01039-y.
* Mesnieres M, Böhm AM, Peredo N, Trompet D, Valle-Tenney R, Bajaj M, Corthout N, Nefyodova E, Cardoen R, Baatsen P, Munck S, Nagy A, Haigh JJ, Khurana S, Verfaillie CM, Maes C. Cell Rep. 2021 Aug 24;36(8):109618. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109618.
* Dirckx N, Tower RJ, Mercken EM, Vangoitsenhoven R, Moreau-Triby C, Breugelmans T, Nefyodova E, Cardoen R, Mathieu C, Van der Schueren B, Confavreux CB, Clemens TL, Maes C. J Clin Invest. 2018. doi: 10.1172/JCI97794. Epub 2018 Feb 12.
* Böhm AM, Dirckx N, Tower RJ, Peredo N, Vanuytven S, Theunis K, Nefyodova E, Cardoen R, Lindner V, Voet T, Van Hul M, Maes C. Dev Cell. 2019 Oct 21;51(2):236-254.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.08.013.
