The focus of our research is to understand the first step of tissue formation, which relies on the cell biological basis of stem cell proliferation and differentiation. We particularly concentrate on stem cells that express the marker prominin-1 (CD133).

In the future, we will functionally characterize prominins using molecular and cell biological approaches as well as animal models (mouse, zebrafish, axolotl). Besides studying the cell biological basis of tissue formation, in particular in the hematopoietic system (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), my lab will also investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the retinal degeneration associated with mutations in the PROM-1 gene, and evaluate the possibility of using prominin-1 as a novel tool in the diagnosis of retinal degeneration.

Finally, the role of prominins in lipid raft membrane microdomain formation will be investigated, as well as the function of these microdomains in normal prominin-1+ hematopoietic stem cells and their leukemic counterparts.