Multicellular Dynamics

Sy(stem)s Developmental Biology

Dra Elena Camacho Aguilar

Junior Group Leader María de Maeztu

Summary

 

During embryonic development, a single cell must generate the correct cell types in the right positions and at the right times to create a healthy human being. This is a complex and dynamic process in which cells constantly interact and interpret dynamic signals to create precise patterns. However, we still don’t fully understand how these processes are coordinated and controlled.

Due to ethical and technical constraints, answering these questions in vivo remains a challenge. However, recent developments in stem cell culture provide a new window into human development.

With a multidisciplinary mindset, our lab leverages quantitative experimental studies with human pluripotent stem cells, bioengineering techniques, and novel approaches in mathematical modeling to study cell fate decisions and patterning processes during human development.

Our lab has a focus on understanding embryonic-extraembryonic tissue interactions and how they lead to and coordinate gastrulation, the state at which the three germ layers emerge and the embryo’s head-to-tail axis is defined for the first time.
If you want to know more about us, please visit our Sy(stem)s Developmental Biology Lab website

Five relevant publications

 

Una lista más completa y actualizada de las publicaciones está disponible en: ORCID o Google Scholar.

* – Autores que contribuyeron igualmente a este trabajo.; † – Autor(es) de correspondencia

– Camacho-Aguilar E†, Yoon ST, Ortiz-Salazar MA, Du S, Guerra MC, Warmflash A†. Combinatorial interpretation of BMP and WNT controls the decision between primitive streak and extraembryonic fates. Cell Systems (2024)

– Sempou E, Kostiuk V, Zhu J, Cecilia Guerra M, Tyan L, Hwang W, Camacho-Aguilar E, Caplan MJ, Zenisek D, Warmflash A, Owens NDL, Khokha MK†. Membrane potential drives the exit from pluripotency and cell fate commitment via calcium and mTOR. Nature Communications (2022)

– Sáez M*, Blassberg R*, Camacho-Aguilar E*, Siggia ED, Rand DA†, Briscoe J†. Statistically derived geometrical landscapes capture principles of decision-making dynamics during cell fate transitions. Cell Systems (2022)

– Camacho-Aguilar E†, Warmflash A, Rand DA†. Quantifying cell transitions in C. elegans with data-fitted landscape models. PLoS Computational Biology (2021)

– Camacho-Aguilar E, Warmflash A†. Insights into mammalian morphogen dynamics from embryonic stem cell systems. Current Topics in Developmental Biology (2020)

Lab members & Collaborators

Lab members

Principal Investigator

Dr. Elena Camacho Aguilar, (ecamagu at upo.es)

Research Assistant

Andrea Theodorou

PhD Candidates

Miguel Navarro Castro (University of Seville, Co-supervised with Dr. M. José Jimenez)

Undergraduate Students

Pablo Martín Berna (Undergradiate Thesis, US, Co-supervised with Dr. M. José Jimenez)
Gabriel González Parrado (Research Intern, Universidad Pablo de Olavide)

Previus lab members

Irene Carrero Castro (MSc Thesis, US, Co-supervised with Dr. Fernando Casares)
Grace Wang (Undergraduate Researcher, Rice University, Co-supervised with Dr. Aryeh Warmflash)

If you would like to know more about us, please visit our website at systemsdevbiolab.com