Ph.D student
Joined the Hollfelder group: 2017 as project student & 2019 as PhD Student
Background and Current Projects:
I hold a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Biochemistry from the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin, Germany). My Bachelor's thesis focused on the toxicity of various aluminium nanoparticles and salts on human liver cells, where I developed a strong interest in working with mammalian cell systems.
During my Master's, I became particularly fascinated by embryonic development. A research project in the Hollfelder lab allowed me to combine this interest with my experience in mammalian cell culture. I used microfluidics to encapsulate mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) in agarose microgels and investigated their behaviour in 3D microgel culture compared to conventional 2D culture. This work focused on how the 3D microenvironment influences early embryonic development.
We discovered that the cell–cell adhesion protein Plakoglobin is upregulated in 3D microgels and explored its role in pre-implantation development. Our key finding was that Plakoglobin acts as a mechanosensitive regulator of naïve pluripotency [7].
Interests: Outside the lab, I enjoy growing my own vegetables in the allotment, cooking, horse riding, rowing, and playing board games.
Publications
[8] Siriwardena, D.*, Munger, C.*, Penfold, C., Kohler, T. N., Weberling, A., Linneberg-Agerholm, M., Slatery, E., Ellermann, A. L., Bergmann, S., Clark, S. J., Rawlings, T. M., Brickman, J. M., Reik, W., Brosens, J. J., Zernicka-Goetz, M., Sasaki, E., Behr, R., Hollfelder, F. & Boroviak, T. E. Marmoset and human trophoblast stem cells differ in signaling requirements and recapitulate divergent modes of trophoblast invasion. Cell Stem Cell (2024). Link
[7] Kohler, T. N.*, De Jonghe, J.*, Ellermann, A. L.*, Yanagida, A., Herger, M., Slatery, E. M., Weberling, A., Munger, C., Fischer, K., Mulas, C., Winkel, A., Ross, C., Bergmann, S., Franze, K., Chalut, K., Nichols, J., Boroviak, T. E. & Hollfelder, F. Plakoglobin is a mechanoresponsive regulator of naive pluripotency. Nat Commun (2023). Link
[6] De Jonghe, J.*, Kaminski, T. S.*, Morse, D. B., Tabaka, M., Ellermann, A. L., Kohler, T. N., Amadei, G., Handford, C. E., Findlay, G. M., Zernicka-Goetz, M., Teichmann, S. A. & Hollfelder, F. spinDrop: a droplet microfluidic platform to maximise single-cell sequencing information content. Nat Commun (2023). Link
[5] Munger, C., Kohler, T. N., Slatery, E., Ellermann, A. L., Bergmann, S., Penfold, C., Ampartzidis, I., Chen, Y., Hollfelder, F., & Boroviak, T. E. (2022). Microgel culture and spatial identity mapping elucidate the signalling requirements for primate epiblast and amnion formation. Development. Link
[4] Salmen, F., De Jonghe, J., Kaminski, T. S., Alemany, A., Parada, G. E., Verity-Legg, J., Yanagida, A., Kohler, T. N., Battich, N., van den Brekel, F., Ellermann, A. L., Arias, A. M., Nichols, J., Hemberg, M., Hollfelder, F., & van Oudenaarden, A. (2022). High-throughput total RNA sequencing in single cells using VASA-seq. Nat Biotechnol. Link
[3] Sieg, H., Klusmann, L., Kreß, L., Ellermann, A. L., Böhmert, L., Thünemann, A. F., & Braeuning, A. (2022). Counterions determine uptake and effects of aluminum in human intestinal and liver cells. Toxicol In Vitro, 79, 105295. Link
[2] Schindler M, Siriwardena D, Kohler TN, Ellermann AL, Slatery E, Munger C, Hollfelder F, Boroviak TE. Agarose microgel culture delineates lumenogenesis in naive and primed human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Reports (2021) May 11;16(5):1347-1362. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.04.009. PMID: 33979603; PMCID: PMC8185981. Link
[1] Sieg H, Ellermann AL, Maria Kunz B, Jalili P, Burel A, Hogeveen K, Böhmert L, Chevance S, Braeuning A, Gauffre F, Fessard V, Lampen A. Aluminum in liver cells - the element species matters. Nanotoxicology (2019) Sep;13(7):909-922. doi: 10.1080/17435390.2019.1593542. Epub 2019 Apr 2. PMID: 30938204. Link
