Due to the extraordinary stem cell-based regenerative abilities, planarians represent an experimentally accessible model system with the potential to decipher in vivo the gene-environment interactions that guide cell fate, differentiation and patterning during regeneration. Current research in our lab: 1) to explore how the stem cell system necessary for homeostasis and regeneration responds to different stress conditions by functional analysis of some members of the Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) gene family, specifically expressed in stem cells, and 2) to explore the contribution of ECM components to the control of stem cell behavior, focusing on members of metzincin gene superfamily, known to be involved in a variety of cellular and developmental processes: matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), A Disintegrin and Metalloproteases (ADAMs), astacin/BMP-1/tolloid metalloproteases.

Web site http://www.bios-school.org/Batistoni.html

Back to Community page