Uncovering human hypothalamic lineage trajectories using hPSC-derived neural subtype populations

PhD defence by Anika Müller

Assessment Committee

Associate professor Matthew Paul Gillum, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Associate professor Dong Won Thomas Kim, Aarhus University
Associate professor Florian Merkle, University of Cambridge

Supervisors

Associate Professor Agnete Kirkeby
Associate Professor - Promotion Programme Tune H Pers

Department

Department of Biomedical Sciences

Graduate Programme

Molecular Mechanisms of Disease

Place

The defence is conducted as a hybrid defence.

To attend the defence in person:
Building: Building 7, Panum, Room: Nielsine Nielsen Auditorium,
Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen

To attend the defence online:
Please follow the link to attend the defence online: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/67885050210?pwd=XsopoAbDxEj26aWpyGDpdk5YEsJJaM.1
MeetingID: 678 8505 0210
Password: 681789

Email address to gain access to the thesis: anika.mueller@gmail.com.
You will either receive a copy of the thesis or be informed where you can read a physical copy.
Recipients of copies of the thesis are not allowed to share or distribute it due to copyright compliance.

Short description of the thesis

Crucial bodily functions like appetite and energy expenditure, sleep and stress are primarily regulated by the hypothalamus, a small brain structure. The hypothalamus is highly complex with individual areas called nuclei that contain specialised neuronal populations. Until today, little is understood of its development and origin. This thesis applied pluripotent stem cells to generate human hypothalamic models which can 1) be applied to investigate hypothalamic development and 2) become a platform to study the hypothalamus’ response to hunger and appetite. These models ultimately allow the investigation of obesity or obesity-related drugs like GLP1R agonists such as Semaglutide.