Faculty

Kenneth John McLaughlin, Ph.D.

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Contact information
Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research
New Bolton Center
382 W. Street Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348
Office: 610-925-6288
Fax: 610-925-8121
Education:
B.Sc. (Biology)
University of Adelaide, 1986.
B.Sc. (Reproductive Physiology, Honors)
University of Adelaide , 1987.
Ph.D. (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
University of Adelaide, 1992.
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Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests
Functional role of epigenetics in development.

Key words: Cloning, Nuclear Transfer, Genomic Imprinting, Stem Cells.

Description of Research
One research interest of the laboratory is reprogramming of mammalian somatic cell clones. Clones derived from somatic cells seldom develop to term, and those that do often have severe defects resulting in perinatal death or postnatal abnormalities. A common hypothesis to explain the poor developmental competence of mammalian somatic cell clones is that genes of the differentiated somatic donor nuclei are not or not sufficiently reprogrammed to adopt the gene expression program of a normal developing embryo. We are testing this hypothesis by looking at clones immediately after the reprogramming process supposedly occur, at preimplantation stages using a variety of epigenetic and gene expression criteria.

We are currently primarily interested in the phenomenon of genomic imprinting. Genomic imprinting refers to the unusual situation that some genes are only expressed from the gene copy from one parent. One research direction within the field is to determine the mechanism(s) by which imprinted genes are expressed or silenced depending on parental origin. We are interested in the functional consequences of imprinted gene expression and its limitations during development and in the adult with relevance to regenerative medicine.

Rotation Projects for 2008
Potential projects currently include:

Uniparental stem cell therapy. We have established that uniparental ES cells ie from parthenogenetic and androgenetic embryos, have the potential to regenerate adult hematopoiesis. We wish to verify their validity for tissue transplants and test the limitations of genomic imprinting by transplanting uniparental derived cells of other types to regenerate adult organs. Each tissue type could be a single rotation project and logistics have been prepared for each tissue type. They include: cardiac, germ cells to regenerate male gonads; neural stem cells and hepatocytes. Project would/could include actual transplants, in vitro differentiation of ES cells, assessment of viability and regeneration, analysis of imprinting in tissues prior and subsequent to engraftment.

Lab personnel:
Sigrid Eckardt, Ph.D.
Satoshi Kurosaka, Ph.D.
Adrian Leu, Research Specialist

Selected Publications

Dinger, T.C., Eckardt, S., Choi, S. W., Camarero, G., Kurosaka, S., Hornich, V., McLaughlin, K.J. and Muller, A.M.. : Androgenetic embryonic stem cells form neural progenitor cells in vivo and in vitro. Stem Cells: In press. Stem Cells 26: 00-00, 2008.

Yang, F., Eckardt S., Leu, N.A., McLaughlin, K.J., and Wang, P.J. : Mouse TEX15 is essential for DNA double-strand break repair and chromosomal synapsis during male meiosis. Journal of Cell Biology 180(4): 673-679, February 2008.

Yang, F., Leu, N.A., Eckardt, S., McLaughlin, K.J., and Wang, P.J. : Meiotic failure in male mice lacking an X-linked factor. Genes and Development 22: 682 - 691, March 2008.

Wuensch, A., Habermann, F.A., Kurosaka,S., Klose, R., Zakhartchenko,V., Reichenbach, H., Sinowatz, F., McLaughlin,K.J., and Wolf, E.: Quantitative monitoring of pluripotency gene activation after adult cloning. Biology of Reproduction 76(6): 983-91, Jun 2007.

Eckardt, S., Leu, N. A., Bradley, H.L., Kato, H., Bunting K.D., and McLaughlin K.J.: Hematopoietic reconstitution with androgenetic and gynogenetic stem cells. Genes Dev 21(4): 409-19, February 15 2007.

Changolkar L.N., Costanzi C., Leu N.A., Chen D., McLaughlin K.J., Pehrson J.R.: Developmental Changes in Histone MacroH2A1 Mediated Gene Regulation. Mol Cell Biol. Apr 27(7): 2758-64, Jan 22, 2007.

Kurosaka, S., Eckardt S., Ealy, A.D., and McLaughlin, K.J. : Regulation of blastocyst stage gene expression and outgrowth interferon tau activity of somatic cell clone aggregates. Cloning and Stem Cells 9(4): 630-41, Winter 2007.

Yang, F., De La Fuente, R., Leu, N.A., Baumann, C., McLaughlin, K.J., and Wang, P.J.: SYCP2 interacts with SYCP3 and is required for synaptonemal complex assembly and male fertility. J Cell Biol. 173(4): 497-507, May 22 2006

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Last updated: 04/21/2017
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