Guillaume Blin

Lecturer in Stem Cell Biology

Centre for Regenerative Medicine
Institute for Regeneration and Repair

Tel: 0131 651 9500
Email: Guillaume.Blin@ed.ac.uk

Street: Centre for Regenerative Medicine,
Institute for Regeneration and Repair,
The University of Edinburgh,
Edinburgh BioQuarter,
5 Little France Drive,
City: Edinburgh
Post code: EH16 4UU

Biography

Background

2019 : Lecturer in Stem Cell Biology, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK.
2017-2019: Senior Research Associate, Lowell Lab, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK.
2012-2017: Sir Henry Wellcome post-doctoral fellow, Lowell Lab, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK.
2011 : PhD with Dr. Michel Puceat and Prof. Catherine Picart, Universite Montpellier II
2007: Msc in Biology, Control of cell fate, Universite Montpellier II

Research

Research summary

Quantitative Biology of Pattern Formation

Multicellular organisms are fascinating: they are complex, dynamic, adaptive and display exceptional levels of organisation, yet they come into existence from relatively simple setouts.

Our research aims at identifying general principles explaining how the cells self-organise to form tissues with complex architectures and functions.

By acquiring a quantitative understanding of this question, we wish to advance our ability to engineer novel in vitro models of development and diseases and to inform future strategies for tissue regeneration and repair.

Aims and areas of interest

Our main hypothesis is that patterning is an emergent process. We are particularly interested in understanding how collective interactions occuring at the cellular level may predict the formation of patterns at the tissue level. We also aim to identify general design principles in the formation of tissues which might explain robustness and evolvability of multicellular organisation.

We adopt a forward engineering approach combining mathematical modelling with practical experiments. We use synthetic biology, quantitative imaging and micro-fabrication techniques in order to advance our understanding of patterning and our ability to engineer novel in vitro models of development and diseases. In the process we generate techniques and computational tools which we hope will benefit the broader community.

PickCells: Exploratory Image Analysis for Biology: https://pickcellslab.frama.io/docs/

GitLab projects: https://framagit.org/pickcellslab

Publications

SyNPL: Synthetic notch pluripotent cell lines to monitor and manipulate cell interactions in vitro and in vivo (46 pages) 23 Jun 2022 In: Development, vol. 149
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.200226
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
REDIRECT: Mapping drug prescriptions and evidence from biomedical literature (2 pages) 25 May 2022 In: Stud Health Technol Inform, vol. 294, pp. 419-420
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI220491
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
In preprints: The problem of producing precise patterns (2 pages) 1 Apr 2022 In: Development, vol. 149
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.200710
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Quantitative developmental biology in vitro using micropatterning (15 pages) 3 Aug 2021 In: Development, vol. 148
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.186387
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Predicting pattern formation in embryonic stem cells using a minimalist, agent-based probabilistic model 1 Oct 2020 In: Scientific Reports, vol. 10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73228-4
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
N-cadherin stabilises neural identity by dampening anti-neural signals 8 Nov 2019 In: Development, vol. 146
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.183269
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Competence to epithelialise coincides with competence to differentiate in pluripotent cells (26 pages) 17 Oct 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/809467
Research output: › Working paper (Published)
Investigating motility and pattern formation in pluripotent stem cells through agent-based modeling (5 pages) Oct 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/BIBE.2019.00170
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Conference contribution (Published)
Id1 stabilises epiblast identity by sensing delays in nodal activation and adjusting the timing of differentiation (16 pages) 19 Aug 2019 In: Developmental Cell, vol. 50, pp. 462-477.E
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2019.05.032
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Nessys: A new set of tools for the automated detection of nuclei within intact tissues and dense 3D cultures (29 pages) 9 Aug 2019 In: PLoS Biology, vol. 17
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000388
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging (14 pages) 30 Apr 2019 In: Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3791/59634
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Agent-based modelling of Pattern Formation in Pluripotent Stem Cells: Initial Experiments and Results 1 Feb 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/CISP-BMEI.2018.8633048
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Conference contribution (Published)
Geometrical confinement controls the asymmetric patterning of brachyury in cultures of pluripotent cells (16 pages) 21 Sep 2018 In: Development, vol. 145
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.166025
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Convergence of microengineering and cellular self-organization towards functional tissue manufacturing (1 page) 12 Dec 2017 In: Nature Biomedical Engineering, vol. 1, pp. 939-956
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-017-0166-x
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published)
Polarity reversal by centrosome repositioning primes cell scattering during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (17 pages) 23 Jan 2017 In: Developmental Cell, vol. 40, pp. 168-184
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2016.12.004
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Position-dependent plasticity of distinct progenitor types in the primitive streak (28 pages) 18 Jan 2016 In: eLIFE, vol. 5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10042
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Distinct Wnt-driven primitive streak-like populations reflect in vivo lineage precursors (13 pages) 15 Mar 2014 In: Development, vol. 141, pp. 1209-1221
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.101014
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Bone Morphogenic Protein signalling suppresses differentiation of pluripotent cells by maintaining expression of E-Cadherin (20 pages) Dec 2013 In: eLIFE, vol. 2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01197
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Hes1 desynchronizes differentiation of pluripotent cells by modulating STAT3 activity (12 pages) 31 Aug 2013 In: STEM CELLS, vol. 31, pp. 1511-1522
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/stem.1426
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Tcf15 Primes Pluripotent Cells for Differentiation Feb 2013 In: Cell Reports, vol. 3, pp. 472-484
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2013.01.017
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)

View all 21 publications on Research Explorer

Collaborators

Dr. Linus Schumacher, MRC Centre for Regenerative MedicineDr. Thanasis Tsanas, Usher InstituteProf. Dave Robertson, College of Science & Engineering, University of EdinburghDr. Elise Cachat, School of Biological Sciences, University of EdinburghProf. Val Wilson, MRC Centre for Regenerative MedicineDr. Sally Lowell, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine

This article was published on 20 Sep, 2023