Alexandros Vegiopoulos

Biography

The main focus of our work is to understand how tissue stem cells respond to environmental metabolic challenges to contribute to tissue plasticity, and thereby to organismal adaptation or metabolic disease, including obesity and associated disorders. We are primarily interested in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), an intriguing cell type which resides in most tissues throughout the body, displays broad differentiation potential and has been implicated in diverse tissue repair and remodelling processes. These cells appear to underlie the fascinating plasticity of adipose tissue, which can expand or retract depending on caloric intake, or switch from lipid-storing to an oxidative lipid-burning character during the adaptation to a cold environment. The main focus of our work is to understand how tissue stem cells respond to environmental metabolic challenges to contribute to tissue plasticity, and thereby to organismal adaptation or metabolic disease, including obesity and associated disorders. We are primarily interested in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), an intriguing cell type which resides in most tissues throughout the body, displays broad differentiation potential and has been implicated in diverse tissue repair and remodelling processes. These cells appear to underlie the fascinating plasticity of adipose tissue, which can expand or retract depending on caloric intake, or switch from lipid-storing to an oxidative lipid-burning character during the adaptation to a cold environment.

Research Interest

Stem Cell