Anna La Torre, Ph.D.
The Central Nervous System (CNS) is a complex network of numerous cell types. For example the human brain contains about 80 billion neurons associated with roughly 300 billion glial cells, and hundreds of different neuronal and glial cell types have been identified by morphology alone. Understanding how this myriad of different cell populations is generated is a fundamental question in neurobiology but also can potentially lead to novel stem cell-based therapies for a diverse array of neurodegenerative diseases.
All the cell lineages of the CNS are derived from a common pool of multipotent progenitors. Neuronal progenitor cells are intrinsically limited such that a particular progenitor can only differentiate into a subset of cell types at a given time during development. A broadly accepted model proposes that progenitor cells progressively change their competence to generate different cell populations as development proceeds.
The goal of our research is to decipher the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal progenitor competence and differentiation using a combination of cell lines, transgenic mouse models and biochemical approaches. We use the retina as a model system due to its relatively simple cytoarchitecture and high accessibility.
Some of the projects that we are currently pursuing in the laboratory are:
- Role of microRNAs in the dynamic regulation of progenitor competence during retinal histogenesis.
- Mechanisms of cone photoreceptor fate determination.
- Early retinal specification and eye field formation.
Additionally, the retina can be affected by a number of diseases that lead to progressive cell loss and ultimately irreversible blindness. These devastating conditions affect millions of people worldwide. Recently, advances in embryonic stem cell (ESC) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies have raised the possibility of custom-built cells for in vitro studies, drug screening and cell replacement therapies. In this direction, our group has successfully differentiated ESCs and iPSCs into a variety of retinal cell types including photoreceptors and Retinal Ganlgion Cells.
See: An updated list of current publications on Google Scholar
Daniela Santamaría-Muñoz, Raenier V Reyes, Miranda R Krueger, Andrea Garcia-Llorca, Brennan Marsh-Armstrong, Xin Duan, Yang Hu, Derek S Welsbie, Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong, Elisenda Sanz, Albert Quintana, Sergi Simó, and Anna La Torre. Cell-Intrinsic Vulnerability and Immune Activation Cooperate to Drive Degeneration in a Mitochondrial Complex I Deficiency Model of Optic Neuropathy.
Steven Decker, Keiko Hino, Anna La Torre*, and Sergi Simó*. Uncoupling Neocortical Neuron Fate and Migration via a Let-7–RBX2 Axis.
Miranda R Krueger, Simranjeet K Cheema, Sergi Simo, Edward M Levine, Nadean L Brown, and Anna La Torre. Novel Roles of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Retinal Patterning and Neurogenesis During Mammalian Eye Development.
Emily L Ward, Larry Benowitz, Thomas M Brunner, Guojun Bu, Michel Cayouette, Valeria Canto‐Soler, Sandro Dá Mesquita, Adriana Di Polo, Aaron DiAntonio, Xin Duan, Jeffrey L Goldberg, Zhigang He, Yang Hu, Shane A Liddelow, Anna La Torre, Milica Margeta, Francisco Quintana, Karthik Shekhar, Beth Stevens, Sally Temple, Humsa Venkatesh, Derek Welsbie, and John G Flanagan. Modeling neurodegeneration in the retina and strategies for developing pan-neurodegenerative therapies.
Kiara C Eldred, Sierra J Edgerton, Isabel Ortuño-Lizarán, Juliette Wohlschlegel, Stephanie M Sherman, Sidnee Petter, Gracious Wyatt-Draher, Dawn Hoffer, Ian Glass, Anna La Torre, and Thomas A Reh. Ciliary marginal zone of the developing human retina maintains retinal progenitor cells until late gestational stages.
Tzu‐Hua Ho, Daniela Santamaria‐Munoz, Hollin Hamelynck, Anna La Torre, Tom Glaser, and Nadean L Brown. Excluding the Genomic Location of Pax2 Regulatory Elements for the Developing Mouse Eye.
Dong Liu, Hannah C Webber, Fuyun Bian, Yangfan Xu, Manjari Prakash, Xue Feng, Ming Yang, Hang Yang, In-Jee You, Liang Li, Liping Liu, Pingting Liu, Haoliang Huang, Chien-Yi Chang, Liang Liu, Sahil H Shah, Anna La Torre, Derek S Welsbie, Yang Sun, Xin Duan, Jeffrey Louis Goldberg, Marcus Braun, Zdenek Lansky, and Yang Hu. Optineurin-facilitated axonal mitochondria delivery promotes neuroprotection and axon regeneration.
Elizabeth Fishman-Williams, Miranda R Krueger, and Anna La Torre. Development of the Primate Fovea. Encyclopedia of the Eye, 2nd edition. Academic Press
Miranda R Krueger, Elizabeth Fishman-Williams, Sergi Simó, Alice F Tarantal, and Anna La Torre. Expression patterns of CYP26A1, FGF8, CDKN1A, and NPVF in the developing rhesus monkey retina.
Jiun L Do, Nicole Pedroarena-Leal, Mikaela Louie, Paula Avila Garcia, Adam Alnihmy, Amit Patel, Robert N Weinreb, Karl J Wahlin, Anna La Torre Vila, and Derek S Welsbie. Mechanical disruption of the inner limiting membrane in vivo enhances targeting to the inner retina.
Mengya Zhao, Kenichi Toma, Benyam Kinde, Liang Li, Amit K Patel, Kong-Yan Wu, Matthew R Lum, Chengxi Tan, Jody E Hooper, Arnold R Kriegstein, Anna La Torre, Yaping Joyce Liao, Derek S Welsbie, Yang Hu, Ying Han, and Xin Duan. Osteopontin drives retinal ganglion cell resiliency in glaucomatous optic neuropathy.
Jisoo S Han, Elizabeth Fishman-Williams, Steven C Decker, Keiko Hino, Raenier V Reyes, Nadean L Brown, Sergi Simó*, and Anna La Torre*. Notch directs telencephalic development and controls neocortical neuron fate determination by regulating microRNA levels.
Thomas V Johnson, David J Calkins, Brad Fortune, Jeffrey L Goldberg, Anna La Torre, Deepak A Lamba, Jason S Meyer, Thomas A Reh, Valerie A Wallace, Donald J Zack, and Petr Baranov. The importance of unambiguous cell origin determination in neuronal repopulation studies.
Anna La Torre and Peter Lwigale.Ocular development: A view from the front to the back of the eye.
Raenier V Reyes, Keiko Hino, Cesar Patricio Canales, Eamonn James Dickson, Anna La Torre, and Sergi Simó. The E3 ubiquitin ligase CRL5 regulates dentate gyrus morphogenesis, adult neurogenesis, and animal behavior.
Antonio Jacobo Lopez, Sangbae Kim, Xinye Qian, Jeffrey Rogers, J Timothy Stout, Sara M Thomasy, Anna La Torre, Rui Chen, and Ala Moshiri. Retinal organoids derived from rhesus macaque iPSCs undergo accelerated differentiation compared to human stem cells.
Lauren K Wareham, Shane A Liddelow, Sally Temple, Larry I Benowitz, Adriana Di Polo, Cheryl Wellington, Jeffrey L Goldberg, Zhigang He, Xin Duan, Guojun Bu, Albert A Davis, Karthik Shekhar, Anna La Torre, David C Chan, M Valeria Canto-Soler, John G Flanagan, Preeti Subramanian, Sharyn Rossi, Thomas Brunner, Diane E Bovenkamp, and David J Calkins. Solving neurodegeneration: common mechanisms and strategies for new treatments.
Elizabeth S Fishman, Jisoo S Han, and Anna La Torre. Oscillatory behaviors of microRNA networks: emerging roles in retinal development.
Elizabeth S Fishman, Mikaela Louie, Adam M Miltner, Simranjeet K Cheema, Joanna Wong, Nicholas M Schlaeger, Ala Moshiri, Sergi Simó, Alice F Tarantal, and Anna La Torre. MicroRNA signatures of the developing primate fovea.
Corinne LA Fairchild, Simranjeet K Cheema, Joanna Wong, Keiko Hino, Sergi Simó, and Anna La Torre. Let-7 regulates cell cycle dynamics in the developing cerebral cortex and retina.