Dr Anna Philpott

Interests

Mechanisms that link the cell cycle and differentiation are poorly understood and still less is known about how developmental cues are linked to cell cycle exit. Our laboratory is interested in understanding the coordination of cell proliferation with cell fate determination and differentiation in the early Xenopus frog embryo, focusing particularly on the nervous system.

Recently, we have been studying the only cdk inhibitor described in Xenopus, Xic1. We have demonstrated that Xic1 is essential for an early stage of neural differentiation, distinct from its ability to arrest the cell cycle. At the biochemical level, Xic1 expression can lead to stabilisation of the proneural transcription factor Neurogenin. We are currently investigating regulation of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of this and other factors controlling differentiation of neurons. Moreover, studies in Xenopus embryos are also being extended into cultured cell systems including mouse-derived neural stem cells.

Research Focus

Equipment

Protein purification

Xenopus embryos as a model system for cell cycle and neuronal differentiation