
April Pyle, Ph.D.
Bio
April Pyle, Ph.D., seeks to develop a better understanding of human pluripotent stem cells, which can self-renew as well as produce any cell type in the body through a process called differentiation. Through pursuing a better understanding of the biological processes that drive pluripotent stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, Pyle is gaining insights that could unlock the potential of stem cell-based treatments for a host of diseases.
Pyle is particularly interested in how pluripotent stem cells differentiate into skeletal muscle cells, which are affected by many muscle-wasting disorders, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a lethal genetic disease that affects approximately 1 in 5,000 boys in the U.S. Pyle’s extensive study of the biological underpinnings of Duchenne muscular dystrophy has led to several significant breakthroughs. She and her colleagues have developed an approach to correct the genetic defect that causes Duchenne and recently, her lab devised strategies to generate somites, the cells that give rise to skeletal muscles, bones and cartilage during development, as well as create skeletal muscle cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Each of these discoveries represents a major step towards the development of a cell replacement therapy for Duchenne.
Another aim of Pyle’s work is to identify the signals that balance survival and self-renewal in stem cells in order to prevent instability that can lead to tumor development. Cancer is caused by mutations to genes that lead to abnormal cell growth and, like other cells, stem cells are vulnerable to this cancer-causing mutation. By examining how stem cells survive, differentiate and self-renew in a dish, Pyle hopes to uncover how this process may go awry and lead to cancer. It is her hope that this understanding could help to improve clinicians’ ability to prevent, detect or treat cancer.
Pyle received her doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Publications
- A Small-Molecule Approach to Restore a Slow-Oxidative Phenotype and Defective CaMKIIβ Signaling in Limb Girdle Muscular DystrophyPublished in Cell on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
- A Human Skeletal Muscle Atlas Identifies the Trajectories of Stem and Progenitor Cells across Development and from Human Pluripotent Stem CellsPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Monday, May 11, 2020
- ERBB3 and NGFR mark a distinct skeletal muscle progenitor cell in human development and hPSCsPublished in Nature Cell Biology on Monday, December 18, 2017
- Creation of a Novel Humanized Dystrophic Mouse Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Application of a CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing TherapyPublished in Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases on Tuesday, May 30, 2017
- In Vivo Human Somitogenesis Guides Somite Development from hPSCsPublished in Cell Reports on Tuesday, February 7, 2017
- Restoring Ureagenesis in Hepatocytes by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genomic Addition to Arginase-deficient Induced Pluripotent Stem CellsPublished in Molecular Therapy, Nucleic Acids on Thursday, January 26, 2017
- A Single CRISPR-Cas9 Deletion Strategy that Targets the Majority of DMD Patients Restores Dystrophin Function in hiPSC-Derived Muscle CellsPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday, February 11, 2016
- Small Molecule Screening with Laser Cytometry Can Be Used to Identify Pro-Survival Molecules in Human Embryonic Stem CellsPublished in PLOS One on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
- A spatially and chemically defined platform for the uniform growth of human pluripotent stem cellsPublished in Materials Science and Engineering: C on Tuesday, January 1, 2013
- Proliferative Neural Stem Cells Have High Endogenous ROS Levels that Regulate Self-Renewal and Neurogenesis in a PI3K/Akt-Dependant MannerPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday, January 6, 2011
- Female human iPSCs retain an inactive X chromosomePublished in Cell Stem Cell on Friday, September 3, 2010
- Microfluidic image cytometry for quantitative single-cell profiling of human pluripotent stem cells in chemically defined conditionsPublished in Lab on a Chip on Tuesday, March 16, 2010
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells Are Distinguished by Gene Expression SignaturesPublished in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday, July 2, 2009
Honors & Affiliations
Honors
- Excellence Award for Outstanding Research Publication, UCLA Life Sciences, 2015-2016
Affiliations
- International Society for Stem Cell Research
- American Society for Cell and Gene Therapy
Funding
Pyle’s work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, including support from the Wendy Ablon Trust.