Department Cell and Developmental Biology
Director: Professor Dr. Hans R. Schöler

Department associated research group Dr. Michele Boiani

Michele Boiani, Ph.D.

E-mail: Phone: Fax:

mboiani@mpi-muenster.mpg.de (0049) 0251 70365-330 (0049) 0251 70365-399

Michele Boiani (Ph.D. 2000) is a scientist and project leader at MPI. As it emerges from his published work, he has always had two main research interests: the use of micromanipulation techniques on oocytes, and the analysis of gene expression during development. He received his predoctoral education in reproductive biology (1994-1999) under the guidance of Dr. Byskov at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen (DK) and Dr. Redi at the University of Pavia (I). As a postdoctoral fellow he joined Dr. Schöler's group at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) where he became more interested in developmental pluripotency. Dr. Boiani's research focus is on 'reprogramming' of nuclear potency in somatic cell-derived clones of the mouse.

Research subjects and people in the lab

1. Environmental factors in clonal embryo development of the mouse
2. Chromosomal (aneuploidy) vs epigenetic causes of abnormal development in clonal mouse embryos
3. Facilitating de-programming of somatic cell features in mouse clones and derivative ES cells

Sebastian Balbach (Ph.D. student) and Telma Esteves (Ph.D.) join the endeavors to these projects.

Extra-mural collaborations

Dr. Yong Mahn Han, KAIST, Daejeon, KOREA
Dr. Jan Ellenberg, EMBL, Heidelberg, GERMANY
Dr. Anna Jauch, Klinikum Uni. Heidelberg, GERMANY

Relevant publications

Kishigami S, Wakayama S, Van Thuan N, Ohta H, Mizutani E, Hikichi T, Bui HT, Balbach S, Ogura A, Boiani M, Wakayama T (2006).
Production of cloned mice by somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Nature Protocols 1:125-138.

Boiani M, Gentile L, Gambles V, Cavaleri F, Redi CA, Schöler HR (2005)
Variable "reprogramming" of the pluripotent stem cell marker Oct4 in mouse clones: distinct developmental potentials in different culture environments.
Stem Cells 23:93-108.

Boiani M, Eckardt S, Leu AN, Schöler HR, McLaughlin KJ (2003).
Pluripotency deficit in clones overcome by clone-clone aggregation: epigenetic complementation?
The EMBO Journal 22: 5304-5312

Hübner K, Fuhrmann G, Christenson LK, Kehler J, Reinbold R, De La Fuente R, Wood J, Strauss JF 3rd, Boiani M, Schöler HR (2003).
Derivation of oocytes from mouse embryonic stem cells.
Science 300:1251-1256.

Boiani M, Eckardt S, Schöler HR, McLaughlin KJ (2002).
Oct4 distribution and level in mouse clones: consequences for pluripotency.
Genes and Development 16:1209-1219.

Boiani M, McLaughlin KJ and Schöler HR.
Compositions and methods for the efficient and reproducible generation of clone animals of all developmental stages and methods of use thereof.
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/865,369

There are multiple ways to (toti-) pluripotency, Boiani and collaborators follow the way of somatic cell nuclear transfer into oocytes	An oocyte undergoing removal of its maternal chromosomes prior to the somatic cell nuclear transfer (shown in the golden hamster)
A clonal mouse embryo derived from a cumulus cell, and its chromosomal makeup	Clonal blastocysts showing expression of a pluripotency-associated gene - Nanog mRNA - restricted to the putative inner cell mass
The most tangible outcome of the cloning procedure: the first clonal pup generated by Boiani et al. in 2001