Prof. Dr. Dorothea Schulte
Neurologisches Institut (Edinger Institut)
Neuroscience Center
Heinrich-Hoffmann Str. 7
60528 Frankfurt
Tel +49-(0)69-6301-84159
Fax +49-(0)-69-6301-84150
E-Mail: d.schulte@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Scientific Focus
Our group investigates cell intrinsic mechanisms in cell fate specification and differentiation of adult and embryonic stem- and progenitor cells in the brain. In particular, we are interested in the molecular mechanisms, which balance progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation and govern the progressive maturation of neural stem- and progenitor cells into different types of neurons. A major current research focus of the lab is the TALE-HD (three amino acid loop homeodomain) family of transcription factors, an atypical class of homeodomain containing proteins. We study their activities during development, homeostasis and disease of the vertebrate brain, and focus on different brain regions, in order to identify both common principles and cell type-specific variations in TALE-HD function. We also characterize the composition of homeodomain containing nuclear protein complexes, address the question of how their activity is regulated by extracellular signals and study their interaction with pathways, which regulate chromatin dynamics.
Methods
We use mouse and chick as model organisms, including different genetically modified mouse lines, together with primary cell culture systems to study gene function in defined neural cell populations. We employ a broad panel of molecular, biochemical and cell biology methods including retroviral gene transfer in vivo and in vitro, RNAi, and purification of tagged and untagged nuclear proteins.
Selected Publications
Müller T, Reichlmeir M, Wittig I, Schulte D. The neuronal transcription factor MEIS2 is a calpain-2 protease target. Journal of Cell Science (2024), jcs.261482. doi: 10.1242/jcs.261482.
Laub V, Devraj K, Elias L, Schulte D. Bioinformatics for Wet-lab Scientists: Practical Application in Sequencing Analysis. BMC Genomics, (2023) 24(1):382. doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09454-7.
Hau A-C, Mommaerts E, Laub V, Müller T, Dittmar G, Schulte D. Transcriptional cooperation of PBX1 and PAX6 in adult neural progenitor cells. Scientific Reports (2021) 11(1):21013. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99968-5.
Lepko T, Pusch M, Müller T, Schulte D, Ehses J, Kiebler M, Hasler J, Huttner HB, Vandenbroucke RE, Vandendriessche C, Modic M, Martin-Villalba A, Zhao S, LLorens-Bobadilla E, Schneider A, Fischer A, Breunig CT, Stricker SH, Götz M, Ninkovic J. Choroid Plexus releases miR-204 regulating the number of neural stem cells in the subependymal zone. EMBO J (2019) 38(17): e100481. doi: 10.15252/embj.2018100481.
Groß A, Schulz C, Kolb J, Koster J, Wehner S, Czaplinski S, Khilan A, Rohrer H, Harter PN, Klingebiel T, Langer JD, Geerts D, Schulte D. Tumorigenic and anti-proliferative properties of the TALE-transcription factors MEIS2D and MEIS2A in neuroblastoma. Cancer Research (2018), 78(8):1935-1947; doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-1860.