Dr Samir Taoudi
Details
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Division: Molecular Medicine
Research Overview
Mature blood cells have multiple functions ranging from transporting oxygen around the body to protecting us from infection. The ability to continue producing enough blood cells throughout life is critical to our health. This process is known as haematopoiesis (blood production).
At the foundation of blood cell production is the haematopoietic progenitor/stem cell (HSCs); these cell types are not specialised for any function except to ensure that when necessary large mature blood cells can be readily generated. In the adult, the ability to continuously generate mature blood whilst preserving sufficient numbers of progenitor/stem cells is ensured by a process known as self-renewal – a question that remains unanswered is how these cells are produced in the first place.
Understanding how HSCs are produced and how HSCs are controlled when they make the decision to make new copies of themselves (self-renewal) is critical for us to produce HSCs tailored for individual patients for therapeutic use. For example, if we can understand how HSCs are produced we will be able to take advantage of exciting developments in the field of embryonic stem cells/induced pluripotent stem cells (which are capable of generating nearly all cells types in the body) to efficiently instruct the production of new HSCs.
If we can understand how to communicate with HSCs that already exist (for example those in the bone marrow that can be harvested and cultured in the laboratory) we can instruct them to produce multiple copies of themselves; these cells could then be used to generate enough material for successful patient-specific transplantations. Deciphering the processes of HSC formation and self-renewal is the focus of our laboratory.
Research Interests
- Haematopoietic development in the embryo
- Directing fate through lineage interactions
- Haematopoietic stem cell formation
- Control of haematopoietic stem cell self-renewal
Selected Publications
- Taoudi S, Bee T, Hilton A, Knezevic K, Scott J, Willson T, Collin C, Thomas T, Voss AK, Kile TB, Alexander WS, Pimanda J, and Hilton DJ. ERG dependence distinguishes developmental control of hematopoietic stem cell maintenance from hematopoietic specification. Genes and Development. 2011 Feb; 25(3):251-262. PMID: 21245161
- Taylor E, Taoudi S and Medvinsky A. Haematopoietic stem cell activity in the AGM region enhances after mid-day 11 of mouse development. Int J Dev Biol. 2010 Oct:54;1055-1060. PMID: 20711982
- Sheridan J, Taoudi S, Medvinsky A, and Blackburn C. A Novel Method for the Generation of Reaggregated Organotypic Cultures That permits juxtaposition of defined cell populations. Genesis. 2009 May;47:346–351. PMID: 19370754
- Taoudi S, Gonneau C, Moore K, Sheridan J, Blackburn C, Taylor E, and Medvinsky A. Extensive hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) generation in the AGM region via maturation of CD45+ pre-definitive HSCs. Cell Stem Cell. 2008 Jul;3(1):99-108. PMID: 18593562
- Taoudi S and Medvinsky A. Functional identification of the hematopoietic stem cell niche in the ventral domain of the embryonic dorsal aorta. PNAS. 2007 May;104:9399-9403. PMID: 17517650
- Taoudi S, Morrison AM, Inoue H, Gribi R, Ure J, and Medvinsky A. (2005). Progressive divergence of definitive haematopoietic stem cells from the endothelial compartment does not depend on contact with the foetal liver. Development. 2005 Sept;132:4179-4191. PMID: 16107475
Click here to view more PubMed publications
Current Laboratory Members
Faculty Member: Samir Taoudi, BSc(Hons) PhD Edinburgh (Joint with the Cancer and Haematology division)
Research Officer: Kylie Greig, BBiomedSc(Hons), PhD Melb
Research Assistant: Adrienne Hilton, BAppSc RMIT (Joint with the Cancer and Haematology division)
Postgraduate Student: Kathy Potts, BSC, Melb
Research Officer: Andrew Jarratt, BSc(Hons) York PhD Oxford
Scientific Coordinator/Alliance Manager: Fiona McGrath BAppSc(Hons) RMIT
Administration Officer: Etty Bonnici
