The parathyroid glands are endocrine tissues that regulate the calcium homeostasis within our blood. Patients suffering from hypoparathyroidism have chronically low parathyroid hormone and consequently a disturbed calcium homeostasis. The inevitable life-long monitoring and calcium and vitamin D supplementation have a huge burden on the quality of life. We are developing protocols to generate parathyroid cells within our lab and study disease phenotype and ultimately work towards a potential cure.
reNEW research
Reliable methods to make parathyroid cells from stem cells are still lacking. We recreate key steps of embryonic development, first guiding stem cells into pharyngeal endoderm—the tissue that gives rise to the parathyroid glands. We are now refining the final instructions that guide these cells to flow towards a parathyroid fate, while preventing them from taking alternative developmental paths.
Image description
Assembly of transcriptional and epithelial features of the pharyngeal-endoderm state.
Credits
Cyriel Olie, postdoc, Carlotti & De Koning lab, reNEW Leiden.
