Michael Rendl
- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Developmental and Regenerative Biology
- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Dermatology
Print Profile
Education
M.D., Medical University of Vienna
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Rockefeller University
Awards
2009 - 2010
Research Career Development Award Dermatology Foundation
2002 - 2004
Schrodinger Fellow of the Austrian Science Fund
2001 - 2002
Max Kade Fellow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
1999 -
AESCA Award for Dermatological Research
Research
Specific Research Interests:Cell fate specification of stem cell niche cells in the hair morphogenesis model; stem cell activation by dermal papilla niche cells during hair formation and regeneration
Current Students: Mauro Gurrachaga, Brittany Russo, Rachel Sennett
Postdoctoral Fellows: Carlos Clavel, Laura Grisanti, Amelie Rezza, Su-Yi Tsai
Research Personnel: Roland Zemla
Summary of Research Studies:
Hair Follicle Morphogenesis: Stem Cell Activation and Cell Fate Specification by Dermal Papilla Niche Cells.
Cell communication between tissue stem cells and their cellular microenvironment within so-called stem cell niches is critical for stem cell self-renewal, differentiation and thus overall tissue homeostasis. But how these specialized niche cells acquire their inductive properties generally remains unknown. The focus of the lab is to understand the general molecular mechanisms of niche cell fate specification that is required for stem cell activation and tissue formation. We use hair follicle development as an attractive model system where a stem cell niche is formed when specialized mesenchymal cells, called dermal papilla (DP) cells, send cues to multipotent long-lived epithelial stem cells, thereby regulating their proliferation and progenitor cell fate, both during embryonic follicle morphogenesis and during adult follicle regeneration.
We have recently developed transgenic mice that enabled us to isolate pure DP cells and to characterize their molecular signature. Cell fate manipulation either by cytokine activation in vitro or by gene ablation in a novel in vitro/in vivo hybrid knockout assay then allowed us for the first time to functionally assess their stem cell-activating, hair inducing properties. The goal now is to systematically employ these tools to identify the specific molecular events that specify DP character that is crucial for regulating epithelial stem cells. Specifically we focus on transcription factors from the DP signature. We test whether they play a role in DP niche fate specification in reprogramming experiments in vitro and in gene knockout experiments in vivo with novel DP-specific Cre mice.
These experiments will identify key mechanisms in the formation of the hair follicle stem cell niche. Such insights will have also the potential to advance our understanding of other developmental systems where mesenchymal-epithelial communication takes place within a stem cell microenvironment. In addition, these studies could lead to therapeutic strategies to regenerate hair and other tissues.
In a second focus, we explore the reprogramming potential of DP cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. We have found that DP cells express already three of the four reprogramming transcription factors and that DP cells can be reprogrammed by only Oct4 and Klf4. We now aim to further remove Klf4 to reprogram accessible skin-derived DP cells with only Oct4, and eventually to replace Oct4 with small-molecule modifiers of epigenetic regulation to reprogram DP cells without any exogenous genetic material. This will establish safe conditions to reprogram patient-specific somatic DP cells into iPS cells for regenerative therapies.
Current Research Studies:
1. 1-R01-AR059143-01; NIH/NIAMS; 4/01/2010 - 2/28/2015
PI: M. Rendl
“Specification of Dermal Papilla Cell Fate in the Hair Follicle Stem Cell Niche”
2. N09G-225; NYSTEM (New York State Stem Cell Science); 9/01/2010 – 8/30/2012
PI: M. Rendl
“Reprogramming the Hair Follicle Stem Cell Niche in Uncommitted Skin Fibroblasts”
3. N09G-224; NYSTEM (New York State Stem Cell Science); 9/01/2010 – 8/30/2012
PI: M. Rendl
“Dermal papilla cells: An accessible and highly reprogrammable source for the generation of pluripotent stem cells”
Publications
Tsai SY, Bouwman BA, Ang YS, Kim SJ, Lee DF, Lemischka IR, Rendl M. Single transcription factor reprogramming of hair follicle dermal papilla cells to induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells 2011 Jun; 29(6).
Ang YS, Tsai SY, Lee DF, Monk J, Su J, Ratnakumar K, Ding J, Ge Y, Darr H, Chang B, Wang J, Rendl M, Bernstein E, Schaniel C, Lemischka IR. Wdr5 mediates self-renewal and reprogramming via the embryonic stem cell core transcriptional network. Cell 2011 Apr; 145(2).
Driskell RR, Clavel C, Rendl M, Watt FM. Hair follicle dermal papilla cells at a glance. Journal of Cell Science 2011 Apr; 124(Pt 8).
Tsai SY, Clavel C, Kim S, Ang YS, Grisanti L, Lee DF, Kelley K, Rendl M. Oct4 and klf4 reprogram dermal papilla cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells 2010 Feb; 28(2).
Nguyen H, Merrill BJ, Polak L, Nikolova M, Rendl M, Shaver TM, Pasolli HA, Fuchs E. Tcf3 and Tcf4 are essential for long-term homeostasis of skin epithelia. Nature Genetics 2009 Oct; 41(10).
Greco V, Chen T, Rendl M, Schober M, Pasolli HA, Stokes N, Dela Cruz-Racelis J, Fuchs E. A two-step mechanism for stem cell activation during hair regeneration. Cell Stem Cell 2009 Feb; 4(2).
Rendl M, Polak L, Fuchs E, Schober M, Pasolli HA, Stokes N, Dela Cruz-Racelis J, Fuchs E. BMP signaling in dermal papilla cells is required for their hair follicle-inductive properties. Genes & Development 2008 Feb; 22(4).
Nguyen H, Rendl M, Fuchs E. Tcf3 governs stem cell features and represses cell fate determination in skin. Cell 2006 Oct; 127(1).
Rendl M, Lewis L, Fuchs E. Molecular dissection of mesenchymal-epithelial interactions in the hair follicle. PLoS Biology 2005 Nov; 3(11).
Tumbar T, Guasch G, Greco V, Blanpain C, Lowry WE, Rendl M, Fuchs E. Defining the epithelial stem cell niche in skin. Science 2004 Jan; 303(5656).
Industry Relationships
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr. Rendl did not report having any of the following types of financial relationships with industry during 2010 and/or 2011: consulting, scientific advisory board, industry-sponsored lectures, service on Board of Directors, participation on industry-sponsored committees, equity ownership valued at greater than 5% of a publicly traded company or any value in a privately held company. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website at http://www.mssm.edu/about-us/services-and-resources/faculty-resources/handbooks-and-policies/faculty-handbook. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.
Atran Berg Laboratory Building Floor 7 Room 10C
1428 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10029
Atran Berg Laboratory Building Floor 7 Room 12
1428 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10029