It is well known that lipids, and specifically phospholipids, play structural roles in eukaryotic animal cells. However, in addition to this essential role, phospholipids fulfill regulatory and signaling functions.

In our laboratory, we are interested in investigating lipid-mediated regulatory processes that are associated with cell differentiation, using neural stem cell differentiation as a model.

We have shown that phosphatidylcholine increases neurogenesis and that phosphatidylethanolamine increases neural stem cell astrogliogenesis by changing the fate of neural precursors.

With these results, we propose to analyze the underlying mechanisms, evaluate their role of phospholipids under damage conditions (models of neurodegenerative diseases), and find their physiological reservoir.

These results will be key to understanding basic regulatory mechanisms associated with the differentiation of neural stem cells, which can be used for the rational design of regenerative strategies.