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Mojgan Rastegar: Profile Photo

Mojgan Rastegar

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Position: Professor

Organization: University of Manitoba

I am a Professor of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, at the University of Manitoba. I completed my PhD degree in Biological Sciences at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium, with postdoctoral training in USA (Indiana University Purdue University (IUPUI), Indiana), and Canada (McGill University, Montreal; Hospital for Sick Children affiliated with the University of Toronto, Toronto). In addition to my Academic Position, I serve as the Vice-President of the Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences (CSMB), Chair of the CIHR Stem Cell Oversight Committee (SCOC), and Co-Director of the Manitoba Epigenetic Network. I am also a Scientist member of the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM) and Principal Investigator of the Human Rett Syndrome Brain Bio-Repository Laboratory (located at CHRIM).

Areas of Expertise:

+ Epigenetics, DNA methylation
+ Neurodevelopmental disorders
+ Neural stem cells

Language(s):

+ English
+ Persian

My Work

What I do:

I am a recognized leader for research on Rett Syndrome (RTT), brain development, stem cell biology, and transcriptional gene regulation. Our basic science program focuses understanding the role of DNA methylation in brain development and cell fate commitment of brain cells, investigations of cis-regulatory elements that control an important epigenetic factor “MECP2” . Our research involves in vitro studies of brain-derived embryonic and adult neural stem cells, primary neurons and astrocytes, as well as in vitro lentiviral gain and loss-of-function studies. The long-term goals of this objective are to determine the functional role of MeCP2 as a global regulator of the epigenetic integrity, membrane-less chromatin architecture and nuclear structure of different brain cell types, along with the control of global DNA methylation and histone variants. Our health-related area of focus is to understand the role of MeCP2 in mental disability and neurodevelopmental disorders (including Rett Syndrome (RTT)), and specifically the role of MeCP2 in RTT mechanism of disease, linking DNA methylation to mTOR signaling and protein translation initiation, ribosome biogenesis and cellular metabolism. In the context of RTT, we also study the therapeutic potential of metabolic drugs

Ask me about:

In addition to my research and teaching responsibilities, I am an ad-hoc reviewer of over 60 journals including Nature Communications, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Acta Neuropathologica, & Biological Psychiatry, and Editorial Board of seven journals including Scientific Reports. I am an expert in epigenetics, DNA methylation, transcriptional gene regulation, stem cell biology, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Why me:

I have studied gene regulatory mechanisms in health and disease for almost three decades. My PhD studies identified a network of developmentally important transcription factors. During my postdoctoral trainings, I studied transcriptional regulation in different in vitro and in vivo model systems. My lab has pioneered research on human RTT brain in Canada. In 2019, I established the Human RTT Brain Bio-Repository Laboratory, supported by Ontario Rett Syndrome Association (ORSA), and RTT parents from across Canada. We reported major deficits of the human RTT brain, and the role of epigenetics in disease mechanism for RTT and other neurodevelopmental disorders. My team also reported the sex-dependent pathological, cellular, molecular, and cell signalling defects in these neurodevelopmental disorders, and the regulatory roles of metabolic drugs. My lab is also recognized for leading research on MeCP2 isoforms (E1 and E2). We reported MeCP2 isoform-specific auto-regulation using newly developed human reporter and overexpressing cell lines. We reported that their auto-regulation happens at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels.

About Me

Sector: Education (K-12)

English proficiency: Read, Write, Speak

Other Language(s): Persian

Title: Professor

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Gender: Female

Demographic: West Asian

Recent Publications

Title Year
Factors Affecting the Prevalence and Survival of Patients with Primary and Metastatic Brain Tumors2025
Epigenetic control of adaptive or homeostatic splicing during interval-training activities2024
Metformin Induces MeCP2 in the Hippocampus of Male Mice with Sex-Specific and Brain-Region-Dependent Molecular Impact2024
Transcriptional Inhibition of the Mecp2 Promoter by MeCP2E1 and MeCP2E2 Isoforms Suggests Negative Auto-Regulatory Feedback that can be Moderated by Metformin2024
The Chromatin Structure at the MECP2 Gene and In Silico Prediction of Potential Coding and Non-Coding MECP2 Splice Variants2022
Synthesis and characterization of N‐rich fluorescent bio‐dots as a reporter in the design of dual‐labeled FRET probe for TaqMan PCR: A feasibility study2022
MeCP2 and transcriptional control of eukaryotic gene expression2022
Differential Sensitivity of the Protein Translation Initiation Machinery and mTOR Signaling to MECP2 Gain- and Loss-of-Function Involves MeCP2 Isoform-Specific Homeostasis in the Brain2022
Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems to overcome gastric cancer drug resistance2022
Transcriptional Regulation of MECP2E1-E2 Isoforms and BDNF by Metformin and Simvastatin through Analyzing Nascent RNA Synthesis in a Human Brain Cell Line2021
The MeCP2E1/E2-BDNF-miR132 Homeostasis Regulatory Network Is Region-Dependent in the Human Brain and Is Impaired in Rett Syndrome Patients2020
Differential brain region‐specific expression of MeCP2 and BDNF in Rett Syndrome patients: a distinct grey‐white matter variation2020
Chronic Ethanol Exposure Alters DNA Methylation in Neural Stem Cells: Role of Mouse Strain and Sex2019
Simvastatin Induces Apoptosis in Medulloblastoma Brain Tumor Cells via Mevalonate Cascade Prenylation Substrates2019
DNA Methylation Contributes to the Differential Expression Levels of Mecp2 in Male Mice Neurons and Astrocytes2019
Genome-Wide Transcriptome Landscape of Embryonic Brain-Derived Neural Stem Cells Exposed to Alcohol with Strain-Specific Cross-Examination in BL6 and CD1 Mice2019
MECP2 Mutation Interrupts Nucleolin–mTOR–P70S6K Signaling in Rett Syndrome Patients2018
Oxytocin mitigated the depressive-like behaviors of maternal separation stress through modulating mitochondrial function and neuroinflammation2017
Protective effects of gabapentin against the seizure susceptibility and comorbid behavioral abnormalities in the early socially isolated mice2017
Experiencing neonatal maternal separation increased pain sensitivity in adult male mice: Involvement of oxytocinergic system2016
Streptozotocin induced oxidative stress, innate immune system responses and behavioral abnormalities in male mice2016
Perturbation of redox balance after thioredoxin reductase deficiency interrupts autophagy-lysosomal degradation pathway and enhances cell death in nutritionally stressed SH-SY5Y cells2016
Lithium attenuates the proconvulsant effect of adolescent social isolation stress via involvement of the nitrergic system2016
NMDA receptors are involved in the antidepressant-like effects of capsaicin following amphetamine withdrawal in male mice2016
Attenuation of oxidative and nitrosative stress in cortical area associates with antidepressant-like effects of tropisetron in male mice following social isolation stress2016