Richard Maas


Department of Medicine (Division of Genetics)
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
New Research Building, Room 458H
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: (617) 525-4706
Fax: (617) 525-4751
Email: maas@genetics.med.harvard.edu
11 postdoctoral fellows, 1 graduate student

Many organs form via the sequential exchange of inductive signals between interacting tissues, frequently an epithelium and a mesenchyme.

 

We are identifying the molecular components of the inductive signaling mechanisms that operate between tissues during early mammalian organogenesis. In parallel, we have begun to integrate this genetic and developmental information with tissue engineering and stem cell approaches to generate new organ tissues. The goal is to use analyses of endogenous organ development to deduce “molecular blueprints”- i.e., the genetic and protein based regulatory network by which organs form- to design and engineer organs and organ parts de novo. This is a highly interdisciplinary consortium based project called SysCODE (Systems-based Consortium for Organ Design and Engineering) that involves many HMS, HU and MIT faculty in a team approach to organ building. A variety of rotation projects are available to interested students.

 

First, we are using laser capture microdissection (LCM) to build comprehensive gene expression lists for embryonic mouse tissues for some of the organs mentioned above. Second, we are employing systems approaches to use this information and proteomic and mutant data to deduce gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for organogenesis. Third, we are collaborating with tissue engineering faculty and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) to design and engineer new mammalian tissues from different types of progenitor cells. Both mouse and human systems are being employed. Students interested in any aspect of this pipeline are welcome.

 

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BBS webpage updated 12/02/2009