Anne Calof, Ph.D.
Professor

University of California Irvine
5323 McGaugh Hall
Irvine, CA 92697

Tel: (949) 824-4616, 5745
Fax: (949) 824-1104
Email: alcalof@uci.edu
Website: Lab Homepage

Neurogenesis and Neuronal Differentiation - My laboratory’s research efforts are concentrated on two main topics: (1) understanding the nature and the targets of the signals that regulate the production of neurons by neuronal stem and progenitor cells during development and regeneration of the nervous system; and (2) understanding the molecular etiology of human genetic diseases that affect growth and development, especially of the nervous system. To understand these questions, we study the basic biology of stem cells, but we also employ mouse genetics, molecular biology, tissue culture, and computational approaches. Our goal is to understand how key genes regulate organ system growth and patterning, and how key signaling molecules regulate stem and progenitor cell numbers in the stem cell niches of sensory epithelia (eye, ear, tongue, olfactory epithelium). Although we employ mouse as a model genetic system for most of our studies, our work is expanding into the use of zebrafish and human stem cells, in collaboration with other researchers at UCI and at other institutions. One recent advance that we have made is to characterize how a protein called GDF11 controls critical aspects of retinal stem cell differentiation during development, making GDF11 an attractive target for harnessing the power of stem cells that already exist in the retina to replace retinal cells that have been lost as a result of injury or degenerative retinal disease. It is our hope that by discovering a protein that helps control the development of the retina, we may have found a new molecular mechanism that will allow for stem cell-based therapies to treat developmental eye disorders and retinal degeneration.

Recent Publications