Bruno Di Stefano, Ph.D.
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Bruno Di Stefano, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
Positions
- Assistant Professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
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Molecular and Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, United States
- Assistant Professor and CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
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Center for Cell and Gene Therapy (CAGT)
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
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The Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center (STaR)
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
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Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
- Member
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Center for Cancer Epigenetics
MD Anderson
Houston, Texas United States
Addresses
- Office (Lab)
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One Baylor Plaza
N1020.01
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-7771
- Lab (Office)
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One Baylor Plaza
N1020
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Education
- Postdoctoral Training at Harvard Medical School
- Boston, Massachusetts United States
- PhD from Centre for Genomic Regulation and Pompeu Fabra University
- 06/2014 - Barcelona, Spain
- MSc from University of Pavia
- Pavia, Italy
- BSc from University of Pavia
- Pavia, Italy
Professional Interests
- Stem cell biology
- Cellular reprogramming
- Development
- Post-transcriptional regulation
- Cancer biology
- Epigenetics and chromatin regulation
Professional Statement
During development and lineage specification, pluripotent and adult stem cells generate the diverse arrays of specialized cells of the adult body.Once a cell type is specified, the mechanisms that restrict and maintain cell fate are important in ensuring tissue integrity, and their dysregulation often results in disease, particularly cancer.
Our current research aims to understand the post-transcriptional & epigenetic mechanisms that govern stem cell potency and cell fate decisions, and determine how to exploit these mechanisms to develop new therapeutic strategies.
Towards this goal, our lab employs diverse approaches and tools including human and mouse embryonic stem cells, adult stem and progenitor cell cultures, 3D organoids, cellular reprogramming, transdifferentiation, in vivo mouse models, genome editing with CRISPR-Cas nucleases, and genome-wide techniques (e.g. scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, CLIP-seq).
Websites
Selected Publications
- Di Stefano B, Luo EC, Haggerty C, Aigner S, Charlton J, Brumbaugh J, Ji F, Jiménez IR, Clowers KJ, Huebner AJ, Clement K, Lipchina I, de Kort MAC, Anselmo A, Pulice J, Gerli MFM, Gu H, Gygi SP, Sadreyev RI, Meissner A, Yeo GW, Hochedlinger K. "The RNA helicase DDX6 controls cellular plasticity by modulating P-body homeostasis.." Cell Stem Cell.2019/November7;: Pubmed PMID: 31588046
- Francesconi M*, Di Stefano B*, Berenguer C, de Andrés-Aguayo L, Plana-Carmona M, Mendez-Lago M, Guillaumet-Adkins A, Rodriguez-Esteban G, Gut M, Gut IG, Heyn H, Lehner B, Graf T. "Single cell RNA-seq identifies the origins of heterogeneity in efficient cell transdifferentiation and reprogramming.." Elife.2019/March12;: Pubmed PMID: 30860479
- Di Stefano B, Ueda M, Sabri S, Brumbaugh J, Huebner A, Sahakyan A, Clement K, Clowers KJ, Erickson AE, Shioda K, Gygi SP, Gu H, Shioda T, Meissner A, Takashima Y, Plath K, Hochedlinger K. "Reduced MEK inhibition confers a growth advantage and preserves genomic stability in naïve human ES cells.." Nat. Methods.2018/August20;: Pubmed PMID: 30127506
- Brumbaugh J*, Di Stefano B*, Wang X, Borkent M, Forouzmand E, Clowers KJ, Ji F, Schwarz BA, Kalocsay M, Elledge SJ, Chen Y, Sadreyev RI, Gygi SP, Hu G, Shi Y, Hochedlinger K. "Nudt21 Controls Cell Fate by Connecting Alternative Polyadenylation to Chromatin Signaling.." Cell.2018/January11;: Pubmed PMID: 29249356
- Krijger PHL*, Di Stefano B*, de Wit E*, Limone F, Van Oevelen C, de Laat W, Graf T. "Cell-of-Origin-specific 3D genome structure acquired during somatic cell reprogramming.." Cell Stem Cell. 2016 May 15; : Pubmed PMID: 26971819
- Di Stefano B*,§, Collombet S*, Jakobsen JS*, Wierer M, Sardina JL, Lackner A, Stadhouders R, Segura-Morales C, Francesconi M, Limone F, Mann M, Porse B, Thieffry D, Graf T§. "C/EBPa creates elite cells for iPSC reprogramming by upregulating Klf4 and increasing the levels of Lsd1 and Brd4.." Nature Cell Biology. 2016 April ; : Pubmed PMID: 26974661
- Di Stefano B, Sardina JL, van Oevelen C, Collombet S, Kallin EM, Vicent GP, Lu J, Thieffry D, Beato M and Graf T. "C/EBPa poises B cells for rapid reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells.." Nature. 2013 December 15; : Pubmed PMID: 24336202
Funding
- Investigating Post-Transcriptional Mechanisms Governing Cancer Stem Cell Self-Renewal And Differentiation Grant funding from Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
- Role of RNA sequestration in hematopoiesis Grant funding from The Nancy Chang, Ph.D. Award for Research Excellence
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