Illinois Directory

• PhD, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
• BS, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Marie-Claude Hofmann received a BA in Biology from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. She moved to Zürich and worked for several years as a research assistant at the Dental School of the University of Zürich, Department of Oral & Structural Biology. She then obtained her PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Lausanne, working on hematopoietic stem cells self-renewal in leukemia patients. Following an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Research at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California, she joined the Department of Biology at the University of Dayton, Ohio, where she started working on the biology of spermatogonial stem cells of the testis. She joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Associate Professor in 2006.

• Cell Biology
• Cancer Biology
• Advanced Endocrinology
• Histology

• Many questions about the biology of stem cells remain unanswered. Some of these are: what defines a stem cell, or "stemness," what is the influence of the stem cell "niche" in regulating stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, and what are the intracellular signaling pathways underlying stem cell behavior. Answering these questions will bring us closer to effectively engineering stem cells and tissues for regenerative therapy, and provide new insights into the etiology of certain cancers.
• My research program uses spermatogonial stem cells as a model to answer these questions. These stem cells are pluripotent, giving rise to daughter cells that belong to the three embryonic germ layers. We are particularly interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms that control spermatogonial stem cell cell fate decision by the growth factor glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and other factors modulating GDNF signaling. Further, we are conducting studies aimed at understanding the impact of possible toxicants, such as nanomaterials and phthalates, on signaling pathways in spermatogonial stem cells.

• ETVS regulates Sertoli cell chemokines involved in mouse stem/progenitor spermatogonia maintenance. Simon L, Ekman GG, Garcia T, Carnes K, Zhang Z, Murphy T, Murphy KM, Hess RA, Cooke PS, Hofmann MC, Stem Cells, in press.
• Silver nanoparticles disrupt GDNF/Fyn kinase signaling in spermatogonial stem cells. Braydich-Stolle LK, Lucas B, Schrand A, Murdock RC, Lee T, Schlager JJ, Hussain SM, Hofmann MC, Toxicol Sci. 2010; 116(2):577-89.
• Age affects gene expression in mouse spermatogonial stem/progenitor cells. Kokkinaki Maria, Lee Tin-Lap, He Zuping, Jiang Jiji, Golestaneh Nady, Hofmann Marie-Claude, Chan Wai-Yee, Dym Martin, Reproduction. 2010; 139(6):1011-20
• Direct transdifferentiation of stem/progenitor spermatogonia into reproductive and nonreproductive tissues of all germ layers. Simon L, Ekman GC, Kostereva N, Zhang Z, Hess RA, Hofmann MC, Cooke PS. Stem Cells. 2009; 27(7):1666-75.
• Additional Publications

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Society for the Study of Reproduction
• American Society of Andrology
• FASEB
• American Society of Andrology Executive Committee