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Indiana University Bloomington

Christina DannChristina Dann

Assistant Scientist

Office: Myers 230

Phone: 812/856-7577

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Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 2002-2008
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 2001
B.S., College of William and Mary, 1996

Research

The life-long production of specialized adult cells depends upon the maintenance of a pool of progenitor cells called stem cells.   We study spermatogonial stem cells, the progenitors of sperm.  These stem cells, unlike other adult stem cells, have the capacity to become reprogrammed to even less specialized stem cells that could be used in therapy for a variety of diseases.   Our goals are to determine mechanisms that control spermatogonial stem cell fate while also developing technology  to facilitate cell and gene therapy using cultured mouse spermatogonial stem cells as a model system.

Representative Publications

Heim, C., Fanslow, D., Dann, C.T. (2012) Development of quantitative microscopy-based assays for evaluating dynamics of living cultures of mouse spermatogonial stem/progenitor cells. Biology of Reproduction. Aug 29 (Epub ahead of print).

Hitmoi, S., Dann, C.T., Rajkovic, A. (2012) Generation of a germ cell-specific mouse transgenic
CHERRY reporter, Sohlh1-mCherry-Flag. Genesis. Sep 11 (Epub ahead of print).

Dann, C.T. (2012) Transgenic modification of spermatogonial stem cells using lentiviral vectors. In Aston, K. I. and Carrell, D. T. (Eds.), Methods in Molecular Biology: Spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis, methods and protocols. 927, (pp 503-18).

Song, H, Dann, C.T., McCarrey, J., Meistrich, M., Cornwall, G., Wilkinson, M. F. (2012)
Dynamic expression pattern and subcellular localization of the RHOX10 homeobox transcription factor during early germ cell development. Reproduction. 143, (pp 611-24).

Minniear, K., Heim, C., Dann, C.T. (2011) Imatinib mesylate has deleterious effects on differentiated spermatogonia while sparing spermatogonial stem cell self renewal. Reproductive Toxicology. In press – (vol. 31).

Richardson T.E., Chapman K.M., Dann C.T., Hammer R.E., Hamra F.K. (2009) Sterile testis complementation with spermatogonial lines restores fertility to DAZL-deficient rats and maximizes donor germline transmission.  PLoS One.  4, (e6308).

Dann, C.T., Alvarado, A., Molyneux, L., Denard, B.S., Garbers, D.L., Porteus, M.H. (2008) Spermatogonial Stem Cell Function Requires OCT4, a Factor Down-regulated During Retinoic Acid Induced Differentiation in vitro. Stem Cells. 26, (2928-37).

Dann, C.T.  and Garbers. D.L. (2008) Production of Knockdown Rats by Lentiviral Transduction of Embryos with Short Hairpin RNA Transgenes. In Hou, S. X. and Singh S. R. (Eds.), Methods in Molecular Biology:  Germline stem cells  (pp 193-209). Totowa, NJ:  Humana Press.

Dann, C.T.  (2007) New Technology for an Old Favorite:  Lentiviral Transgenesis and RNAi in Rats.  Transgenic Research. 16, 571-580.

Dann, C.T., Alvarado, A., Hammer, R., Garbers. D. (2006) Heritable and Stable Gene Knockdown in Rats.   PNAS. 103, 11246 -11251. [PMC1544073]

Tenenhaus, C., Subramaniam, K., Dunn, M., Seydoux, G. (2001) PIE-1 is a Bifunctional Protein that Regulates Maternal and Zygotic Gene Expression in the Embryonic Germline of C. elegans. Genes and Development . 15, 1031-1040. [PMC312670]

Tenenhaus, C., Schubert, C., Seydoux, G. (1998) Genetic Requirements for PIE-1 Localization and Inhibition of Gene Expression in the Embryonic Germ Lineage of C. elegans.  Developmental Biology. 200, 212-224.