Maria Eleni Kastriti, PhD

Department(s): Division of Neuroimmunology (Center for Brain Research)
Position: Research Assistant
Location: Spitalgasse 4
Telephone: 40160-34215
E-Mail:

Research Area:
Chromaffin Cells, Peripheral Nervous System, Schwann Cells

Research Interests:
Cell Differentiation, Developmental Biology

Abstract:

During embryonic development, stem cells found on the peripheral outgrowing nerves (named Schwann cell precursors) give rise to various cell types such as enteric neurons and glia, sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons, neuroendocrine cells of the adrenal glands, as well as immature Schwann cells. My focus is the elucidation of heterogeneity of Schwann cell precursors as well as of the intra- and extracellular signals governing the differentiations of these cells towards downstream fates.

Techniques:

Our main model organism is the house mouse. We employ a variety of techniques to answer our research questions, ranging from lineage tracing, immunofluorescent staining and multiplex RNAscope hybridization to state-of-the-art single-cell transcriptomics and bioinformatic analysis.

Selected Publications:

1. Kaucka M, Szarowska B, Kavkova M, Kastriti M, Kameneva P, Schmidt I, Peskova L, Joven Araus A, Simon A, Kaiser J, Adameyko I (2021) Nerve-associated Schwann cell precursors contribute extracutaneous melanocytes to the heart, inner ear, supraorbital locations and brain meninges Cell Mol Life Sci, : 2021 Jul 18. doi: 10.1007/s00018-021-03885-9. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34274976
2. Kameneva P, Artemov A, Kastriti M, Faure L, Olsen T, Otte J, Erickson A, Semsch B, Andersson E, Ratz M, Frisén J, Tischler A, de Krijger R, Bouderlique T, Akkuratova N, Vorontsova M, Gusev O, Fried K, Sundström E, Mei S, Kogner P, Baryawno N, Kharchenko P, Adameyko I (2021) Single-cell transcriptomics of human embryos identifies multiple sympathoblast lineages with potential implications for neuroblastoma origin Nature Genetics, : 53(5)
3. Kastriti M, Kameneva P, Adameyko I (2020) Stem cells, evolutionary aspects and pathology of the adrenal medulla: A new developmental paradigm Mol Cell Endocrinol, 518: 110998
4. Soldatov R, Kaucka M, Kastriti M, Petersen J, Chontorotzea T, Englmaier L, Akkuratova N, Yang Y, Häring M, Dyachuk V, Bock C, Farlik M, Piacentino M, Boismoreau F, Hilscher M, Yokota C, Qian X, Nilsson M, Bronner M, Croci L, Hsiao W, Guertin D, Brunet J, Consalez G, Ernfors P, Fried K, Kharchenko P, Adameyko I (2019) Spatiotemporal structure of cell fate decisions in murine neural crest Science, 364 (6444): eaas9536
5. Furlan A, Dyachuk V, Kastriti M, Calvo-Enrique L, Abdo H, Hadjab S, Chontorotzea T, Akkuratova N, Usoskin D, Kamenev D, Petersen J, Sunadome K, Memic F, Marklund U, Fried K, Topilko P, Lallemend F, Kharchenko P, Ernfors P, Adameyko I (2017) Multipotent peripheral glial cells generate neuroendocrine cells of the adrenal medulla Science, 357 (6346): eaal3753

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