Licia Selleri, PhD, MD

Professor
Program in Craniofacial Biology
Institute for Human Genetics
Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research
Department of Orofacial Sciences
Department of Anatomy
+1 415 502-2096

The laboratory studies the genetic and regulatory basis of how elaborately patterned tissues form during embryonic development and evolution. The laboratory combines different genetic approaches, using the mouse as a model, to understand the mechanisms underpinning basic developmental processes related to cranial and appendicular morphogenesis. They discovered discovered that homeodomain-containing transcription factors of the Pbx family, also known as Hox-cofactors, are critical developmental regulators through the transcriptional control of target genes within tissue-specific regulatory networks. Using genetically-engineered and ethylnitrosourea (ENU)-mutagenized mouse lines and recently utilizing additional animal models (such as jerboas and primates) the ultimate goal of the laboratory is to identify novel genes and regulatory networks underlying morphogenesis of embryonic structures, morphological variation, evolution, and human congenital disease.

Research Summary: 
Genetic and regulatory control of morphogenesis in embryonic development, evolution, and disease
Mentorship Development: 

5/2021 Sharpening Your Mentoring Skills
6/2021 Promoting Learner Mental Health
10/2021 Sharpening Your Mentoring Skills

Websites

Featured Publications: 

Enhancer Divergence and cis-Regulatory Evolution in the Human and Chimp Neural Crest.

Cell

Prescott SL, Srinivasan R, Marchetto MC, Grishina I, Narvaiza I, Selleri L, Gage FH, Swigut T, Wysocka J

Mouse regulatory DNA landscapes reveal global principles of cis-regulatory evolution.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Vierstra J, Rynes E, Sandstrom R, Zhang M, Canfield T, Hansen RS, Stehling-Sun S, Sabo PJ, Byron R, Humbert R, Thurman RE, Johnson AK, Vong S, Lee K, Bates D, Neri F, Diegel M, Giste E, Haugen E, Dunn D, Wilken MS, Josefowicz S, Samstein R, Chang KH, Eichler EE, De Bruijn M, Reh TA, Skoultchi A, Rudensky A, Orkin SH, Papayannopoulou T, Treuting PM, Selleri L, Kaul R, Groudine M, Bender MA, Stamatoyannopoulos JA

Principles of regulatory information conservation between mouse and human.

Nature

Cheng Y, Ma Z, Kim BH, Wu W, Cayting P, Boyle AP, Sundaram V, Xing X, Dogan N, Li J, Euskirchen G, Lin S, Lin Y, Visel A, Kawli T, Yang X, Patacsil D, Keller CA, Giardine B

A comparative encyclopedia of DNA elements in the mouse genome.

Nature

Yue F, Cheng Y, Breschi A, Vierstra J, Wu W, Ryba T, Sandstrom R, Ma Z, Davis C, Pope BD, Shen Y, Pervouchine DD, Djebali S, Thurman RE, Kaul R, Rynes E, Kirilusha A, Marinov GK, Williams BA, Trout D, Amrhein H, Fisher-Aylor K, Antoshechkin I, DeSalvo G, See LH, Fastuca M, Drenkow J, Zaleski C, Dobin A, Prieto P, Lagarde J, Bussotti G, Tanzer A, Denas O, Li K, Bender MA, Zhang M, Byron R, Groudine MT, McCleary D, Pham L, Ye Z, Kuan S, Edsall L, Wu YC, Rasmussen MD, Bansal MS, Kellis M, Keller CA, Morrissey CS, Mishra T, Jain D, Dogan N, Harris RS, Cayting P, Kawli T, Boyle AP, Euskirchen G, Kundaje A, Lin S, Lin Y, Jansen C, Malladi VS, Cline MS, Erickson DT, Kirkup VM, Learned K, Sloan CA, Rosenbloom KR, Lacerda de Sousa B, Beal K, Pignatelli M, Flicek P, Lian J, Kahveci T, Lee D, Kent WJ, Ramalho Santos M, Herrero J, Notredame C, Johnson A, Vong S, Lee K, Bates D, Neri F, Diegel M, Canfield T, Sabo PJ, Wilken MS, Reh TA, Giste E, Shafer A, Kutyavin T, Haugen E, Dunn D, Reynolds AP, Neph S, Humbert R, Hansen RS, De Bruijn M, Selleri L, Rudensky A, Josefowicz S, Samstein R, Eichler EE, Orkin SH, Levasseur D, Papayannopoulou T, Chang KH, Skoultchi A, Gosh S, Disteche C, Treuting P, Wang Y, Weiss MJ, Blobel GA, Cao X, Zhong S, Wang T, Good PJ, Lowdon RF, Adams LB, Zhou XQ, Pazin MJ, Feingold EA, Wold B, Taylor J, Mortazavi A, Weissman SM, Stamatoyannopoulos JA, Snyder MP, Guigo R, Gingeras TR, Gilbert DM, Hardison RC, Beer MA, Ren B

Ribosomal protein SA haploinsufficiency in humans with isolated congenital asplenia.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Bolze A, Mahlaoui N, Byun M, Turner B, Trede N, Ellis SR, Abhyankar A, Itan Y, Patin E, Brebner S, Sackstein P, Puel A, Picard C, Abel L, Quintana-Murci L, Faust SN, Williams AP, Baretto R, Duddridge M, Kini U, Pollard AJ, Gaud C, Frange P, Orbach D, Emile JF, Stephan JL, Sorensen R, Plebani A, Hammarstrom L, Conley ME, Selleri L, Casanova JL

Congenital asplenia in mice and humans with mutations in a Pbx/Nkx2-5/p15 module.

Developmental cell

Koss M, Bolze A, Brendolan A, Saggese M, Capellini TD, Bojilova E, Boisson B, Prall OW, Elliott DA, Solloway M, Lenti E, Hidaka C, Chang CP, Mahlaoui N, Harvey RP, Casanova JL, Selleri L

A conserved Pbx-Wnt-p63-Irf6 regulatory module controls face morphogenesis by promoting epithelial apoptosis.

Developmental cell

Ferretti E, Li B, Zewdu R, Wells V, Hebert JM, Karner C, Anderson MJ, Williams T, Dixon J, Dixon MJ, Depew MJ, Selleri L

Hox and Pbx factors control retinoic acid synthesis during hindbrain segmentation.

Developmental cell

Vitobello A, Ferretti E, Lampe X, Vilain N, Ducret S, Ori M, Spetz JF, Selleri L, Rijli FM