European excellence grant for DKFZ researcher

Our brain is composed of numerous different types of nerve cells (neurons) and a wide variety of glial cells that have important supportive and regulatory tasks. While brain stem cells in the embryo give rise to this diversity of cell types, this can no longer be accomplished in the adult brain. Although progenitor cells are present, they can no longer differentiate into the various cell types.

Martin-Villalba now intends to find out why this is so. During her whole scientific career, the scientist has studied possibilities to stimulate repair processes in the central nervous system (CNS). Just recently, she discovered that injuries of the CNS lead to characteristic changes in the gene activity of brain stem cells. This causes the stem cells to awaken from their dormant state, in which they normally protect themselves from harmful environmental influences. In addition, injuries activate specific gene enhancers that are important players in developmental biology and that are normally silenced by the presence of epigenetic labels.

In her ERC funded work, Martin Villalba plans to investigate how these gene enhancers can be used to stimulate the complete development program in stem cells that gives rise to the variety of mature brain cells. A particular challenge in this is to proceed very specifically so as not to cause cancer by excessive activation.

Using most advanced methods, Martin-Villalba plans to trace the development paths of individual stem cells. The goal is to influence the brain stem cells in such a way that they renew brain areas which have been destroyed as a result of injury or disease.

Ana Martin-Villalba studied Medicine at the University of Murcia, Spain, and in Leeds, United Kingdom. She graduated in 1995 and earned a PhD degree in 1998 at Heidelberg University, where she had studied the role of death ligands (CD95L, TNF and TRAIL) in apoptosis in the human brain after a stroke. Following clinical work at Heidelberg University Hospital and a post as a project leader in Peter Krammer's department at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Martin-Villalba built up the DKFZ Junior Research Group "Molecular Neurobiology", which was converted into a department in 2011.

Martin-Villalba has previously been honored for her research results with the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers, the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Walther and Christine Richtzenhain Prize.

A picture of Ana Martin-Villalba is available for download:
http://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2018/bilder/Martin_Villalba_Ana.jpg

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