
William Lowry, Ph.D.
Bio
William Lowry, Ph.D., uses human pluripotent stem cells to study the process by which the ectoderm, the outermost layer of cells in the early embryo, splits into two distinct lineages of cell types: the cells that comprise the nervous system and the cells that make up the outer surface of the body including skin, hair and nails. Through examining how the ectoderm gives rise to these two stem cell types, Lowry hopes to gain an understanding of how the development process can go awry, leading to intellectual disability syndromes such as autism in the case of neural cells, or a predisposition to cancers like carcinoma in the case of skin cells.
Lowry’s interest in stem cell research was born from a desire to understand how a small number of cells in the developing embryo can create all of the cells in the body. Early in his career, Lowry focused his research on the stem cells that reside in the skin because they are easily accessible and share many characteristics with the stem cells of the nervous system. Although these two groups of cells perform vastly different functions, their physiology is quite similar because they both arise from the ectoderm during embryonic development.
Lowry models neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, autism and schizophrenia by taking skin cells from patients with these disorders and reprogramming the cells to a pluripotent state, then directing them to become neural stem cells. The neural stem cells created in this way carry genetic defects that cause neurological disease; Lowry uses these defective neural stem cells to examine how they self-renew and produce dysfunctional neural cells. Through this work, he hopes to identify the causes of neurological disorders in order to develop novel treatment strategies.
Much of Lowry’s research on skin stem cells focuses on how they are prompted to make new hair or heal wounds, and how abnormal skin stem cell activity can lead to tumor development. In examining this process, he studies external factors including how cells interact with one another and their environment, and internal factors such as how they metabolize, or break down, available nutrients. This research has already resulted in the discovery of two drugs that promoted hair growth in animal models by altering the metabolism processes of hair follicle stem cells. Lowry is now working to manipulate metabolic processes of hair follicle stem cells to stop the initiation and progression of tumors, such as squamous cell carcinoma.
Lowry earned a doctorate in neuroscience from Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Publications
- Identification of neural oscillations and epileptiform changes in human brain organoidsPublished in Nature Neuroscience on Monday, August 23, 2021
- Patient-derived glial enriched progenitors repair functional deficits due to white matter stroke and vascular dementia in rodentsPublished in Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
- Increased lactate dehydrogenase activity is dispensable in squamous carcinoma cells of originPublished in Nature Communications on Thursday, January 10, 2019
- Lactate dehydrogenase activity drives hair follicle stem cell activationPublished in Nature Cell Biology on Monday, August 14, 2017
- Engineered HA hydrogel for stem cell transplantation in the brain: Biocompatibility data using a design of experiment approachPublished in Data Brief on Friday, February 10, 2017
- Glycolytic Metabolism Plays a Functional Role in Regulating Human Pluripotent Stem Cell StatePublished in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday, September 8, 2016
- Systematic optimization of an engineered hydrogel allows for selective control of human neural stem cell survival and differentiation after transplantation in the stroke brainPublished in Biomaterials on Tuesday, August 2, 2016
- SMRT compounds abrogate cellular phenotypes of ataxia telangiectasia in neural derivatives of patient-specific hiPSCsPublished in Nature Communications on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
- Dynamic Distribution of Linker Histone H1.5 in Cellular DifferentiationPublished in PLOS Genetics on Thursday, August 30, 2012
- From skin biopsy to neurons through a pluripotent intermediate under good manufacturing practice protocolsPublished in Stem Cells Translational Medicine on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
- Defining the origins of Ras/p53-mediated squamous cell carcinomaPublished in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on Thursday, April 21, 2011
- Female human iPSCs retain an inactive X chromosomePublished in Cell Stem Cell on Friday, September 3, 2010
- Molecular analyses of human induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cellsPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Friday, August 6, 2010
- Genetic studies on the functional relevance of the protein prenyltransferases in skin keratinocytesPublished in Human Molecular Genetics on Thursday, April 15, 2010
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells Are Distinguished by Gene Expression SignaturesPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday, July 2, 2009
- Directed Differentiation of Human‐Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generates Active Motor NeuronsPublished in Stem Cells on Monday, February 23, 2009
- Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells from dermal fibroblastsPublished in PNAS on Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Honors & Affiliations
Honors
- Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, 2015
- Maria Rowena Ross Term Chair in Cell Biology and Biochemistry, UCLA, 2009-2014
- Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes, 2009
Affiliations
- International Society for Stem Cell Research
- Faculty of 1000
- Editorial board, Current Opinion in Genetics & Development
Funding
Lowry’s research is funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, March of Dimes, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, the California Cancer Research Committee and the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group.