Dr Natalie Lister, PhD

Position:

• Research Fellow, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University

Credentials:

• PhD at Monash University (currently studying)
• Post-doctoral training at Institut Curie, Paris, France (currently studying)

Biography:

Natalie's has cross-discipline scientific training in Immunology, Stem Cells and Cancer Biology.  During her early research, Natalie pioneered methods for the isolation and characterization of  rare and technically-challenging thymic stromal cells, pivotal for T cell selection and adaptive immunity. Recently, she developed a novel, 3D in vitro culture systems to identify multipotential stem cells within the thymus organ, resulting in the first published report of in vitro-verified progenitor/stem cells from the adult thymus (Cell Reports, 2014). Currently Natalie is applying these stromal techniques in the field of Prostate Cancer, where she aims to develop preclinical, patient-specific in vitro models of Prostate Cancer. Human Prostate cancer cell-lines have been used for decades in the preclinical evaluation of new therapies. Mostly, these simple 2D models have failed to fulfil the promise of new drugs, and do not progess past clinical trials. Our fundamental hypothesis is that current models do not reflect the complexity of prostatic tumours. Prostate cancer cells are dependent on their surrounding 3D microenvironment, which consists of multiple cell-types including extracelular matrix, vasculature and immune cells. Engineering of the microenvironment using multiple, primary human cells is a novel approach to develop a patient-specific in vitro model system for application in therapeutic drug screening.

Best publications:

1. Wong, K./Lister, N.*… Chidgey, A.P., 2014, Multilineage potential and self-renewal define an epithelial progenitor cell population in the adult thymus, Cell Reports, 8 (4);1198-1209. *Co-first author and academic supervisor of K. Wong. We developed a novel 3D in vitro culture system and the first published report demonstrating the isolation of bi-potent epithelial stem cells from the adult thymus. 9 citations.
2. Seach, N. … Lantz, O., 2013, Double positive thymocytes select mucosal-associated invariant T cells, Journal Of Immunology, 191(12); 6002-09. This is the first ever report identifying and proving the thymic cell type responsible for selection of MAIT cells. 16 citations
3. Seach, N. …Morrison, W.A., 2010, Vascularized tissue engineering mouse chamber model supports thymopoiesis of ectopic thymus tissue grafts, Tissue Engineering- Part C: Methods, 16; 543-551. In conjunction with leading microsurgeons at St Vincents hospital, we pioneered a novel humanized mouse model for the growth of primary human thymus tissue. 20 citations.
4. Seach, N.., … Boyd, R.L., 2008, The Lymphotoxin pathway regulates aire-independent expression of ectopic genes and chemokines in thymic stromal cells. The Journal of Immunology, 180 (8); 5384-5392. Using our expertise to purify distinct thymic epithelial subset, we demonstrated that LTbR signals did NOT regulate expression of Aire protein (Chin et al, Nat. Imm, 2003) and instead regulated a specific cohort of chemokines and ectopic genes in a distinct mTEC^lo subset for efficient induction of central tolerance. 63 citations.
5. Gray, D.H.D., Seach, N.., …, Boyd, R.L., 2006, Developmental kinetics, turnover, and stimulatory capacity of thymic epithelial cells. Blood, 108 (12);3777-3785. This seminal publication identified novel thymic epithelial subsets that are still cited within current literature. It further demonstrated the surprisingly dynamic nature of thymic stroma and a more direct role in negative selection than previously appreciated. 228 citations.

Research keywords and interests: Cancer Biology, In vitro model systems, Genomics.