Josée Laganière, Ph. D.
 | Scientist, Innovation Adjunct Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, Université Laval Tel.: 418-780-4362, poste 3246 |
Research interests
Our team is developing stem-cell based therapeutic products. One important aspect of our work consists in exploiting the potential of hematopoietic stem cells of cord blood origin either through process refinement or through the development of novel therapeutic strategies. In addition, since hematopoietic stem cells can be used for the generation of red blood cells and platelets in the laboratory, we are evaluating various culture methods with the goal of translating them to high quality and large-scale processes.
Nearly all cell types (including blood cells) can now be reprogrammed into undifferentiated cells that can grow indefinitely in the laboratory. These « induced pluripotent stem cells » or iPSC offer an entirely new range of therapeutic possibilities, such as the continuous production of red blood cells with a given phenotype. Moreover, recent progress now allows researchers to efficiently and precisely modify the cell’s genome using specific nucleases, which could enable the development of novel targeted cell therapies.
We are thus working towards maximizing the therapeutic possibilities of stem cells with the goal of broadening Héma-Québec ‘s product portfolio.
Current projects:
- Expansion and modification of hematopoietic stem cells for targeted therapies
- Evaluation of mesenchymal stem cells’ expansion potential
- Development novel therapies and products using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)
- Cancer immunotherapies
Expertise:
- Molecular and cellular biology
- Gene transfer
- Functional genomics
- Expansion of CD34+ stem cells (mobilized and cord blood)
- Differentiation of cord blood CD34+ stem cells into megakaryocyte and erythrocyte progenitors
- Cell reprogramming into iPSC and/or cell dedifferenciation
- Genome engineering of iPSC and hematopoietic stem cells
- Culture and characterization of stem cells: mesenchymal, hematopoietic and iPSCs
Recent publications:
- Sanders LH, Laganiere J, Cooper O, Mak SK, Vu BJ, Huang YA, Paschon DE, Vangipuram M, Sundararajan R, Urnov FD, Langston JW, Gregory PD, Zhang HS, Greenamyre JT, Isacson O, Schule B. (2014). LRRK2 mutations cause mitochondrial DNA damage in iPSC-derived neural cells from Parkinson's disease patients: Reversal by gene correction. Neurobiol Dis (Neurobiology of Disease) 62: 381-386.
- Soldner F, Laganiere J, Cheng AW, Hockemeyer D, Gao Q, Alagappan R, Khurana V, Golbe LI, Myers RH, Lindquist S, Zhang L, Guschin D, Fong LK, Vu BJ, Meng X, Urnov FD, Rebar EJ, Gregory PD, Zhang HS, Jaenisch R. (2011). Generation of isogenic pluripotent stem cells differing exclusively at two early onset Parkinson point mutations. Cell (Cell) 146 (2): 318-331.
- Laganiere J, Kells AP, Lai JT, Guschin D, Paschon DE, Meng X, Fong LK, Yu Q, Rebar EJ, Gregory PD, Bankiewicz KS, Forsayeth J, Zhang HS. (2010). An engineered zinc finger protein activator of the endogenous glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene provides functional neuroprotection in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. J Neurosci (The Journal of Neuroscience) 30 (49): 16469-16474.
- Deblois G, Hall JA, Perry MC, Laganiere J, Ghahremani M, Park M, Hallett M, Giguere V. (2009). Genome-wide identification of direct target genes implicates estrogen-related receptor alpha as a determinant of breast cancer heterogeneity. Cancer Res (Cancer Research) 69 (15): 6149-6157.