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Contact information
Hedia Chagraoui
PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
I did my PhD in France in Prof William Vainchenker’s lab (Institute of Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, Paris) under the supervision of Dr Francoise Wendling. I was interested in understanding the role of TGFb1 and megakaryocytes in the development of myelofibrosis in a mouse model. In 2003, as a postdoctoral researcher, I joined Prof Catherine Porcher’s lab whose main interest was to understand blood development and maturation through the function of the haematopoietic transcriptional regulator SCL/Tal-1. Having a strong background in megakaryopoiesis, my first project was to characterise SCL’s role in the development of the megakaryocytic lineage. This work showed that SCL critically controls megakaryocytic terminal differentiation through the transcriptional regulation of the cell-cycle regulator p21. After completion of this work, I focused on the role of SCL in early mouse blood development.
How a given transcription factor imposes a specific fate to multipotent progenitors is still a matter of debate. My project focuses on the emergence of the blood programme from mesodermal precursors through characterisation of the molecular mechanisms engaged by SCL, the earliest regulator of blood specification. Our cellular model is the mouse ES cell/embryoid body (EB) differentiation system that faithfully recapitulates the early events of embryogenesis. To identify the SCL-driven regulatory networks governing blood specification, I have used ATAC-, ChIP- and RNA-sequencing analyses in parallel with functional studies. I am currently establishing an in vitro serum-free mouse ES cell differentiation protocol to model the hematopoietic stem cell developmental pathway.
Key publications
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SCL/TAL1 cooperates with Polycomb RYBP-PRC1 to suppress alternative lineages in blood-fated cells.
Journal article
Chagraoui H. et al, (2018), Nat Commun, 9
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SCL/TAL1: a multifaceted regulator from blood development to disease.
Journal article
Porcher C. et al, (2017), Blood, 129, 2051 - 2060
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Establishment of an ES cell-derived murine megakaryocytic cell line, MKD1, with features of primary megakaryocyte progenitors.
Journal article
Chagraoui H. and Porcher C., (2012), PLoS One, 7
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SCL-mediated regulation of the cell-cycle regulator p21 is critical for murine megakaryopoiesis.
Journal article
Chagraoui H. et al, (2011), Blood, 118, 723 - 735
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Stimulation of osteoprotegerin production is responsible for osteosclerosis in mice overexpressing TPO.
Journal article
Chagraoui H. et al, (2003), Blood, 101, 2983 - 2989
Recent publications
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Specification of the haematopoietic stem cell lineage: From blood-fated mesodermal angioblasts to haemogenic endothelium.
Journal article
Ho VW. et al, (2022), Semin Cell Dev Biol
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Oncogenic Gata1 causes stage-specific megakaryocyte differentiation delay.
Journal article
Juban G. et al, (2020), Haematologica
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SCL/TAL1 cooperates with Polycomb RYBP-PRC1 to suppress alternative lineages in blood-fated cells.
Journal article
Chagraoui H. et al, (2018), Nat Commun, 9
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Impact of Mutant Haemopoietic Transcription Factor GATA1s on Haemopoiesis
Conference paper
Vyas P. et al, (2017), BLOOD, 130
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SCL/TAL1: a multifaceted regulator from blood development to disease.
Journal article
Porcher C. et al, (2017), Blood, 129, 2051 - 2060