Diana Laird, PhD

Professor

M_ObGyn-CRS-Core

[email protected]

+1 415 476-5471

We seek to understand what shapes the development and aging of our gametes, the egg and sperm. In the context of reproduction, we study cell heterogeneity, selection, and interactions between gametes and their supporting cells. We use imaging together with genomic approaches in laboratory mice, naked mole rats, and human tissues. Our work is motivated by solving infertility, optimizing healthy aging, and understanding how environmental exposures affect reproductive health.

Publications

Defining the cell and molecular origins of the primate ovarian reserve.

Nature communications

Wamaitha SE, Rojas EJ, Monticolo F, Hsu FM, Sosa E, Mackie AM, Oyama K, Custer M, Murphy M, Laird DJ, Shu J, Hennebold JD, Clark AT

Evaluating Selective Quality Control in Mammalian Oogenesis: Evidence and Opportunities.

Annual review of genetics

Zussman JW, Skinner DJ, Wagner DE, Shvartsman SY, Laird DJ

Integrated single-nuclei and spatial transcriptomic profiling of human sacrococcygeal teratomas reveals heterogeneity in cellular composition and X-chromosome inactivation.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Rojas EJ, Giannikou K, Huang BJ, Cho SJ, Cordero MA, Pena D, Vu L, Bagrodia A, Derderian SC, MacKenzie TC, Laird DJ

Comprehensive profiling of migratory primordial germ cells reveals niche-specific differences in non-canonical Wnt and Nodal-Lefty signaling in anterior vs posterior migrants.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Jaszczak RG, Zussman JW, Wagner DE, Laird DJ

Ancient viruses sustain mammalian reproduction.

Nature Aging

Doherty CA, Laird DJ

Mammalian oocytes receive maternal-effect RNAs from granulosa cells.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Doherty CA, Tijjani A, Munger SC, Laird DJ

Defining the cell and molecular origins of the primate ovarian reserve.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Wamaitha SE, Rojas EJ, Monticolo F, Hsu FM, Sosa E, Mackie AM, Oyama K, Custer M, Murphy M, Laird DJ, Shu J, Hennebold JD, Clark AT

An updated reference genome sequence and annotation reveals gene losses and gains underlying naked mole-rat biology.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Sokolowski DJ, Miclaus M, Nater A, Faykoo-Martinez M, Hoekzema K, Zuzarte P, Monis S, Alvi SA, Erdmann J, Erdmann AL, Kumaragurubaran R, Bayerl J, Yoo D, Karimpour N, Ungerleider K, Hou H, Fergal M, Hourlier T, Clarke ZA, Lischer HE, Leordean DV, Jiang Y, Pugh TJ, Smith ESJ, Haggerty L, Laird DJ, Lilue J, Holmes MM, Eichler EE, Bruggmann R, Simpson JT, Balmus G, Wilson MD

Sustained fertility from first-wave follicle oocytes that pause their growth.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Soygur B, Gaylord EA, Foecke MH, Cincotta SA, Horan TS, Wood A, Cohen PE, Laird DJ

Prenatal AAV9-GFP administration in fetal lambs results in transduction of female germ cells and maternal exposure to virus.

Molecular therapy. Methods & clinical development

Borges B, Varthaliti A, Schwab M, Clarke MT, Pivetti C, Gupta N, Cadwell CR, Guibinga G, Phillips S, Del Rio T, Ozsolak F, Imai-Leonard D, Kong L, Laird DJ, Herzeg A, Sumner CJ, MacKenzie TC

Iterative oxidation by TET1 is required for reprogramming of imprinting control regions and patterning of mouse sperm hypomethylated regions.

Developmental cell

Prasasya RD, Caldwell BA, Liu Z, Wu S, Leu NA, Fowler JM, Cincotta SA, Laird DJ, Kohli RM, Bartolomei MS

Differential susceptibility of male and female germ cells to glucocorticoid-mediated signaling.

eLife

Cincotta SA, Richardson N, Foecke MH, Laird DJ

Transcriptional repression upon S phase entry protects genome integrity in pluripotent cells.

Nature structural & molecular biology

Gökbuget D, Lenshoek K, Boileau RM, Bayerl J, Huang H, Wiita AP, Laird DJ, Blelloch R

Generation of Schwann cell derived melanocytes from hPSCs identifies pro-metastatic factors in melanoma.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Samuel RM, Navickas A, Maynard A, Gaylord EA, Garcia K, Bhat S, Majd H, Richter MN, Elder N, Le D, Nguyen P, Shibata B, Llabata ML, Selleri L, Laird DJ, Darmanis S, Goodarzi H, Fattahi F

Eggs made from male mouse stem cells using error-prone culture.

Nature

Bayerl J, Laird DJ

Postnatal oogenesis leads to an exceptionally large ovarian reserve in naked mole-rats.

Nature communications

Brie?o-Enr?quez MA, Faykoo-Martinez M, Goben M, Grenier JK, McGrath A, Prado AM, Sinopoli J, Wagner K, Walsh PT, Lopa SH, Laird DJ, Cohen PE, Wilson MD, Holmes MM, Place NJ

A Roadmap for Three-Dimensional Analysis of the Intact Mouse Ovary.

Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)

Soygur B, Foecke MH, Gaylord EA, Fries A, Li J, Arora R, Laird DJ

Ovary Development: Insights From a Three-Dimensional Imaging Revolution.

Frontiers in cell and developmental biology

Soygur B, Laird DJ

Natural selection at the cellular level: insights from male germ cell differentiation.

Cell death and differentiation

Nguyen DH, Laird DJ

Intercellular bridges coordinate the transition from pluripotency to meiosis in mouse fetal oocytes.

Science advances

Apoptosis in the fetal testis eliminates developmentally defective germ cell clones.

Nature cell biology

Nguyen DH, Soygur B, Peng SP, Malki S, Hu G, Laird DJ

The UCSF Mouse Inventory Database Application, an Open Source Web App for Sharing Mutant Mice within a Research Community.

G3 (Bethesda, Md.)

Wall E, Scoles J, Joo A, Klein O, Quinonez C, Bush JO, Martin GR, Laird DJ

Maternal vitamin C regulates reprogramming of DNA methylation and germline development.

Nature

DiTroia SP, Percharde M, Guerquin MJ, Wall E, Collignon E, Ebata KT, Mesh K, Mahesula S, Agathocleous M, Laird DJ, Livera G, Ramalho-Santos M

Heterogeneity of primordial germ cells.

Current topics in developmental biology

Nguyen DH, Jaszczak RG, Laird DJ

Heterogeneity of transposon expression and activation of the repressive network in human fetal germ cells.

Development (Cambridge, England)

Reznik B, Cincotta SA, Jaszczak RG, Mateo LJ, Shen J, Cao M, Baskin L, Ye P, An W, Laird DJ

How to lose your inheritance.

Nature

Laird DJ

Kinesin superfamily protein Kif26b links Wnt5a-Ror signaling to the control of cell and tissue behaviors in vertebrates.

eLife

Susman MW, Karuna EP, Kunz RC, Gujral TS, Cantú AV, Choi SS, Jong BY, Okada K, Scales MK, Hum J, Hu LS, Kirschner MW, Nishinakamura R, Yamada S, Laird DJ, Jao LE, Gygi SP, Greenberg ME, Ho HH

A pilgrim's progress: Seeking meaning in primordial germ cell migration.

Stem cell research

Cantú AV, Laird DJ

Smad4 regulates growth plate matrix production and chondrocyte polarity.

Biology open

Whitaker AT, Berthet E, Cantu A, Laird DJ, Alliston T

Patterning of sharp cellular interfaces with a reconfigurable elastic substrate.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro

Curtis A, Li DJ, DeVeale B, Onishi K, Kim MY, Blelloch R, Laird DJ, Hui EE

Insights from imaging the implanting embryo and the uterine environment in three dimensions.

Development (Cambridge, England)

Arora R, Fries A, Oelerich K, Marchuk K, Sabeur K, Giudice LC, Laird DJ

ROR2 in the adult mouse testis.

Molecular reproduction and development

Arora R, Laird DJ

Discrete somatic niches coordinate proliferation and migration of primordial germ cells via Wnt signaling.

The Journal of cell biology

Cantú AV, Altshuler-Keylin S, Laird DJ

Meiotic onset is reliant on spatial distribution but independent of germ cell number in the mouse ovary.

Journal of cell science

Arora R, Abby E, Ross AD, Cantu AV, Kissner MD, Castro V, Ho HY, Livera G, Laird DJ

A miR-372/let-7 Axis Regulates Human Germ Versus Somatic Cell Fates.

Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio)

Tran ND, Kissner M, Subramanyam D, Parchem RJ, Laird DJ, Blelloch RH

DAZL and CPEB1 regulate mRNA translation synergistically during oocyte maturation.

Journal of cell science

Sousa Martins JP, Liu X, Oke A, Arora R, Franciosi F, Viville S, Laird DJ, Fung JC, Conti M

Cryopreservation and recovery of human endometrial epithelial cells with high viability, purity, and functional fidelity.

Fertility and sterility

Chen JC, Hoffman JR, Arora R, Perrone LA, Gonzalez-Gomez CJ, Vo KC, Laird DJ, Irwin JC, Giudice LC

Follicle dynamics and global organization in the intact mouse ovary.

Developmental biology

Faire M, Skillern A, Arora R, Nguyen DH, Wang J, Chamberlain C, German MS, Fung JC, Laird DJ

Novel domains of expression for orphan receptor tyrosine kinase Ror2 in the human and mouse reproductive system.

Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists

Arora R, Altman E, Tran ND, Laird DJ

Wnt and Bmp fit germ cells to a T.

Developmental cell

Cantú AV, Laird DJ

Vitamin C induces Tet-dependent DNA demethylation and a blastocyst-like state in ES cells.

Nature

Blaschke K, Ebata KT, Karimi MM, Zepeda-Martínez JA, Goyal P, Mahapatra S, Tam A, Laird DJ, Hirst M, Rao A, Lorincz MC, Ramalho-Santos M

Humans put their eggs in more than one basket.

Nature cell biology

Laird DJ

Primordial germ cells and gastrointestinal stromal tumors respond distinctly to a cKit overactivating allele.

Human molecular genetics

Chen L, Faire M, Kissner MD, Laird DJ

miR-372/let-7 axis regulates human primordial germ cell specification.

Fertility and sterility

N.D. Tran, M. Kissner, D. Laird, R. Blelloch

Ror2 enhances polarity and directional migration of primordial germ cells.

PLoS genetics

Laird DJ, Altshuler-Keylin S, Kissner MD, Zhou X, Anderson KV

Lin28-let7-Blimp1 Circuitry regulates human primordial germ cells (hPGC) development from human embryonic stem cells (hESC).

Fertility and sterility

N.D. Tran, D. Laird, M. Kissner, M. Conti, R. Blelloch

Establishment and characterization of human germ cells derived from embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

Fertility and sterility

N.D. Tran, D. Laird, M. Kissner, D. Supramanyam, M. Conti, R. Blelloch

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes have the functional and proliferative capabilities needed for liver regeneration in mice.

The Journal of clinical investigation

Espejel S, Roll GR, McLaughlin KJ, Lee AY, Zhang JY, Laird DJ, Okita K, Yamanaka S, Willenbring H

Stem cell trafficking in tissue development, growth, and disease.

Cell

Laird DJ, von Andrian UH, Wagers AJ

Stem cells are units of natural selection in a colonial ascidian.

Cell

Laird DJ, De Tomaso AW, Weissman IL

Identification of a novel gene involved in asexual organogenesis in the budding ascidian Botryllus schlosseri.

Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists

Laird DJ, Chang WT, Weissman IL, Lauzon RJ

Predatory stem cells in the non-zebrafish chordate, Botryllus schlosseri.

Zebrafish

Laird DJ, De Tomaso AW

Telomerase maintained in self-renewing tissues during serial regeneration of the urochordate Botryllus schlosseri.

Developmental biology

Laird DJ, Weissman IL

Continuous development precludes radioprotection in a colonial ascidian.

Developmental and comparative immunology

Laird DJ, Weissman IL

50 million years of chordate evolution: seeking the origins of adaptive immunity.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Laird DJ, De Tomaso AW, Cooper MD, Weissman IL