Nao Terada, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Pathology
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Nao Terada, MD, PhD |
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Basic Stem Cell Research The primary project in the laboratory focuses on basic biology of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Mouse ES cells were first isolated in 1981, and found to be pluripotent in differentiation while maintaining the capacity for indefinite self-renewal. Although the potential of ES cells (particularly human ES cells) in a clinical setting is clear, the use of these cells as a tool for basic science should also not be overlooked. For example, research on mouse ES cells has been absolutely essential for the establishment of knock-out mice. Without these technologies, fundamental knowledge in embryonic development and gene function would be significantly decreased. In addition, ES cells also differentiate on culture dishes, at least in part, by recapitulating the processes seen in embryonic development. Using this in vitro differentiation of ES cells, we are studying molecular mechanisms underlying early embryonic cell fate specification. In particular, we focus on a differentiation process of ES cells into extraembryonic primitive endoderm (see the Figure below), which represents the event occurring within the inner cell mass of E3.5 blastocysts. By revealing the mechanisms as to how ES cells retain or lose pluripotency, the study will also provide us with general insights for stem cell self-renewal vs. differentiation.
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Status: Accepting New Students This Year Contact Information: office: Medical Science Bldg, M650 lab: Medical Science Bldg, M652 phone: (352) 392-2696 email: terada@pathology.ufl.edu Home Page Biography: Nao Terada earned his MD/PhD degrees from Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. As a postdoc, he joined Erwin Gelfand's laboratory at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO, where he studied signal transduction in mammalian cell growth and differentiation. In 1994, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Pediatrics and Immunology at the University of Colorado. In 2000, he joined the faculty at the University of Florida in the Department of Pathology. |
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