Ross A. Poché, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

(713) 798-8380

Email

poche@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor: Integrative Physiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, US

Member: Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Addresses

BCM-Ben Taub Research Center (Lab): Room: T440 (Lab) T424 (Office)
Houston, TX, 77030
United States

Education

BS from The University of New Orleans: 07/2001 - New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

PhD from Baylor College of Medicine: 07/2007 - Houston, Texas, United States

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine: 07/2012 - Houston, Texas, United States

Professional Interests

Regenerative Medicine
Vision Sciences
Mouse Molecular Genetics
Developmental Biology

Professional Statement

One of my lab's long-term goals is to elucidate the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms regulating retinal progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation, leading to new therapeutic interventions to restore sight and treat cancers such as retinoblastoma. Toward that end, projects aimed at characterizing mouse mutants suffering from defects in retinogenesis are ongoing. One specific aspect of our research is to determine precisely how mitochondrial activity and other bioenergetic pathways interface with cell cycle progression during development. Additionally, we aim to identify new strategies to promote retinal regeneration in response to photoreceptor damage. Here, we are interested in determining whether the mouse retina retains latent regenerative potential akin to other vertebrates such as the zebrafish and whether we can genetically "re-awaken" that potential to restore sight.

Our second focus is on the generation and characterization of novel mouse models recapitulating human craniofacial and neurodevelopmental birth defects. Recently, we have uncovered a previously unknown transcription factor network that is responsible for development of the neural crest-derived craniofacial skeleton.

In the lab, we employ a multi-disciplinary approach utilizing genetic loss- and gain-of-function experiments, molecular biology and live retinal confocal microscopy.

Websites

VIICTR - Publications

BCM Lab Web Site

The Poché Lab

Selected Publications

Martin JF, Poché RA.. " Awakening the regenerative potential of the mammalian retina. " Development. 2019 Dec 2; 146 (23)
Pubmed PMID: 31792065.
Rueda EM, Hall BM, Hill MC, Swinton PG, Tong X, Martin JF, Poché RA. " The Hippo Pathway Blocks Mammalian Retinal Müller Glial Cell Reprogramming. " Cell Reports. 2019 May 7; 27 (6) : 1637-1649.
Pubmed PMID: 31067451.
Barrasso AP, Wang S, Tong X, Christiansen AE, Larina IV, Poché RA. " Live imaging of developing mouse retinal slices. " Neural Dev.. 2018 Sep 15; 13
Pubmed PMID: 6139133.
Barrasso AP, Tong X, Poché RA.. " The mito::mKate2 mouse: A far-red fluorescent reporter mouse line for tracking mitochondrial dynamics in vivo. " Genesis. 2018 Dec 15;
Pubmed PMID: 29243279.
Poché RA, Zhang M, Rueda EM, Tong X, McElwee ML, Wong L, Hsu CW, Dejosez M, Burns AR, Fox DA, Martin JF, Zwaka TP, Dickinson ME.. " RONIN Is an Essential Transcriptional Regulator of Genes Required for Mitochondrial Function in the Developing Retina " Cell Rep.. 2016 Feb 23; 14 (7) : 1684-97.
Pubmed PMID: 26876175.
Poché R.A., Hsu, C.W., McElwee M.L., Burns, A.R. and Dickinson, M.E.. " Macrophages engulf endothelial cell membrane particles preceding pupillary membrane capillary regression. " Dev. Biol.. 2015 Jul 1; 403 (1) : 30-42.
Pubmed PMID: 25912686.
Hsu CW, Poché RA, Saik JE, Ali S, Wang S, Yosef N, Calderon GA, Scott L Jr, Vadakkan TJ, Larina IV, West JL, Dickinson ME.. " Improved Angiogenesis in Response to Localized Delivery of Macrophage-Recruiting Molecules. " PLoS One. 2015 Jul 1; 10 (7)
Pubmed PMID: 26132702.
Lee C.S., Dagnino-Acosta A., Yarotskyy V., Hanna A., Lyfenko A., Knoblauch M., Georgiou D.K., Poché R.A., Swank M.W., Long C., Ismailov I.I., Lanner J., Tran T., Dong K., Rodney G.G., Dickinson M.E., Beeton C., Zhang P., Dirksen R.T. and Hamilton S.L.. " Ca(2+) permeation and/or binding to CaV1.1 fine-tunes skeletal muscle Ca(2+) signaling to sustain muscle function. " Skelet Muscle. 2015 Jan 29;
Pubmed PMID: 25717360.
Keeley P.W., Luna, G., Skyles K.A., Madsen N., Raven M.A., Poché R.A., Swindell E.C., Jamrich M., Fisher S.K. and Reese B.E.. " Developmental and Plasticity of Outer Retinal Circuitry Following Genetic Removal of Horizontal Cells. " J Neurosci.. 2013 Nov 6;
Pubmed PMID: 24198374.
Culver J.C., Hoffman J.C., Poché R.A., Slater J.H., West J.L. and Dickinson M.E.. " Three-dimensional biomimetic patterning in hydrogels to guide cellular organization. " Adv Mater.. 2012 May 2;
Pubmed PMID: 22528701.
Poché R.A., Sharma R., Garcia M.D., Wada A.M., Nolte M.J, Udan R.S., Paik J.H., DePinho R.A., Bartlett J.D. and Dickinson M.E.. " Transcription factor FoxO1 is essential for enamel biomineralization. " PLoS One. 2012 Jan 24;
Pubmed PMID: 22291941.
Whitney I.E., Raven M.A., Ciobanu D.C., Poché R.A., Ding Q., Elshatory Y., Gan L., Williams R.W., Reese B.E.. " Genetic modulation of horizontal cell number in the mouse retina. " Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2011 Jun 7;
Pubmed PMID: 21576457.
Gould D.J., Vadakkan T.J., Poché R.A. and Dickinson M.E.. " Multifractal and lacunarity analysis of microvascular morphology and remodeling. " Microcirculation. 2011 Feb 18;
Pubmed PMID: 21166933.
Moon J.J., Saik J.E., Poché R.A., Leslie-Barbick J.E., Lee S.H., Smith A., Dickinson M.E., and West J.L.. " Biomimetic hydrogels with pro-angiogenic properties. " Biomaterials. 2010 May 31;
Pubmed PMID: 20185173.
Poché R.A., Saik J.E., West J.L. and Dickinson M.E.. " The mouse cornea as a transplantation site for live imaging of engineered tissue constructs. " Cold Spring Harb Protoc.. 2010 Apr ;
Pubmed PMID: 20360370.
Poché R.A., Larina I.V., Scott M.L., Saik J.E., West J.L. and Dickinson M.E.. " The Flk1-myr::mCherry mouse as a useful reporter to characterize multiple aspects of ocular blood vessel development and disease. " Dev Dyn.. 2009 Sep 23;
Pubmed PMID: 19253403.
Poché R.A. and Reese, B.E.. " Retinal horizontal cells: challenging paradigms of neuronal migration, fate determination and cancer biology. " Development. 2009 Jul 1;
Pubmed PMID: 19502480.
Poché R.A., Furuta Y., Chaboissier M-C., Schedl A. and Behringer R.R.. " Sox9 is expressed in mouse multipotent retinal progenitor cells and functions in Müller glial cell development. " J Comp Neurol.. 2008 Sep 20;
Pubmed PMID: 18626943.
Poché R.A., Raven M.A., Kwan K.M., Furuta Y., Behringer R.R. and Reese B.E.. " Somal Positioning and Dendritic Growth of Horizontal Cells are Regulated by Interactions with Homotypic Neighbors. " Eur J Neurosci.. 2008 Apr 27;
Pubmed PMID: 18380663.
Poché R.A., Kwan K.M., Raven M.A., Furuta Y., Reese, B.E. and Behringer R.R.. " The Lim1 (Lhx1) Homeodomain Transcription Factor Controls the Laminar Positioning of Retinal Horizontal Cells. " J Neurosci.. 2007 Dec 19;
Pubmed PMID: 18094249.
Chern T, Achilleos A, Tong X, Hsu CW, Wong L, Poché RA. " Mouse models to study the pathophysiology of combined methylmalonic acidemia and homocystinuria, cblC type " Dev. Biol.. 2020 Dec 1; 468 (1-2) : 1-13.
Pubmed PMID: 32941884.
Ambekar Y.S., Singh M., Scarcelli G., Rueda E.M., Hall B.M., Poché R.A.*, and Larin K.V.*. " Characterization of retinal biomechanical properties using Brillouin microscopy. " J Biomed Opt.. 2020 Sep 25;
Pubmed PMID: 32981240.
Burger C.A., Albrecht N.E., Jiang D., Liang J.H., Poché R.A., Samuel M.A.. " LKB1 and AMPK instruct cone nuclear position to modify visual function. " Cell Rep.. 2021 Feb 2;
Pubmed PMID: 33535040.
Li-Villarreal N., Wong R.L.Y., Garcia M.D., Udan R.S., Poché R.A., Rasmussen T.F., Rhyner A.M., Wythe J.D., and Dickinson M.E.. " FOXO1 represses Sprouty2 and Sprouty4 expression in endothelial cells to promote arterial specification and vascular remodeling in the mouse yolk sac. " Development. 2022 Apr 1;
Pubmed PMID: 35297995.
Chern T.*, Achilleos A.*, Tong X., Hill M.C., Saltzman A.B., Reineke L.C., Chaudhury A., Dasgupta S.K., Redhead Y, Watkins D., Neilson J.R., Thiagarajan P, Green J.B.A., Malovannaya A., Martin J.F., Rosenblatt D.S., and Poché R.A.. " Mutations in Hcfc1 and Ronin result in an inborn error of cobalamin metabolism and ribosomopathy " Nat Commun.. 2022 Jan 10;
Pubmed PMID: 35013307.
Chern T.*, Achilleos A.*, Tong X., Hill M.C., Saltzman A.B., Reineke L.C., Chaudhury A., Dasgupta S.K., Redhead Y, Watkins D., Neilson J.R., Thiagarajan P, Green J.B.A., Malovannaya A., Martin J.F., Rosenblatt D.S., and Poché R.A.. " Mutations in Hcfc1 and Ronin result in an inborn error of cobalamin metabolism and ribosomopathy. " Nature Communications. 2022 Jan 10; 10
Pubmed PMID: 35013307.

Funding

“Ronin (Thap11) in Neural Crest Cell Development” #R01 DE028298: (07/15/2019 - 04/30/2024); NIH/NIDCR

“Hippo Pathway Regulation of Müller Glial Cell-mediated Retinal Regeneration”: (09/01/2019 - 06/30/2023); NIH/NEI

“Transcriptional Regulation of Retinal Mitochondrial Function and Cell Cycle”: (12/01/2014 - 11/30/2020); NIH/NEI

“Reawakening the Regenerative Potential of Mammalian Müller Glial Cells”: (07/01/2018 - 06/30/2021); Bright Focus Foundation