Melanie Marchand

Administrative Appointments

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University - Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine , (2008– present )

Professional Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, EcoleNormaleSuperieuredeLyon (2006)
• PhD, ENS Lyon, France Developmental Biology (2006)

Faculty Advisor

• Eric Chiao

Web Site Links

• Lab site

Research Interests

By definition, pluripotent stem cells have the ability to proliferate indefinitely and to differentiate to any cell types of the human body, offering wonderful promise for human developmental biology, regenerative medicine and drug discovery. The most established type of pluripotent stem cells are human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs), that are isolated from excess human embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics. In our laboratory, Dr. Eric Chiao has derived a disease-specific hESC line from an embryo determined by pre-implantation to have inherited Marfan syndrome (MFS), a common autosomal dominant hereditary disorder affecting skeletal, ocular and cardiovascular systems.

Recently a new category of pluripotent cells derived by reprogramming of somatic cells to an embryonic state, named induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), have generated tremendous excitement. iPSCs have theoretically equivalent differentiation capabilities as traditionally derived hESCs cells. For the first time, researchers will be able to make pluripotent cell lines from families with inherited diseases and from patients carrying different types of genetic mutations without the use of surplus IVF embryos. Therefore, iPSCs represent a unique tool for in vitro modeling human disease and pharmaceutical screening.

The goal of my work is to improve our knowledge of MFS mechanism using hESCs and iPSCs derived from affected individuals. As thoracic aortic aneurysms are the greatest health risks associated with MFS, I have a special interest in developing in vitro differentiation assays towards cardiovascular cell fates.

Publications

• Mouse ES cells over-expressing the transcription factor NeuroD1 show increased differentiation towards endocrine lineages and insulin-expressing cells. Marchand M,  Schroeder IS, Markossian S, Skoudy A, Nègre D, Cosset FL, Real P, Kaiser C, Wobus AM, Savatier P.  Int J Dev Biol.  2009; 53 (4): 569-78
• Viral-mediated coexpression of Pdx1 and p48 regulates exocrine pancreatic differentiation in mouse ES cells. Rovira M,  Jané-Valbuena J, Marchand M, Savatier P, Real FX, Skoudy A.  Cloning Stem Cells.  2007; 9 (3): 327-38
• Cell cycle features of primate embryonic stem cells. Fluckiger AC,  Marcy G, Marchand M, Négre D, Cosset FL, Mitalipov S, Wolf D, Savatier P, Dehay C.  Stem Cells.  2006; 24 (3): 547-56
• Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can express insulin and key transcription factors of the endocrine pancreas developmental pathway upon genetic and/or microenvironmental manipulation in vitro. Moriscot C,  de Fraipont F, Richard MJ, Marchand M, Savatier P, Bosco D, Favrot M, Benhamou PY.  Stem Cells.  2005; 23 (4): 594-603
• Use of the Kleihauer test to detect fetal erythroblasts in the maternal circulation. Martel-Petit V,  Petit C, Marchand M, Fleurentin A, Fontaine B, Miton A, Lemarie P, Philippe C, Jonveaux P.  Prenat Diagn.  2001; 21 (2): 106-11