Ellen V. Rothenberg

In theoretical and experimental work, Rothenberg generated a comprehensive, system-wide understanding of the transcriptional program accounting for the flexible process of T-cell development. Her research focuses on a global regulatory interpretation of the transition from a stem cell-like state to committed T-cell. Her work has revealed the fine structure of the process at the cellular level, its linkage to cell cycle control, and a transcriptional regulatory network underlying the development of T-cells. Her studies mechanistically illuminate the genomically-encoded gene interactions that account for the early plasticity of T-cell development, dependence on Notch signaling, lineage choice, and ultimate commitment, the culmination of this developmental process. The gene regulatory network model emerging from these studies has aimed for predictiveness in logic and kinetics as well as in its ability to explain the lineage relationships of T cell development to the entire spectrum of hematopoietic pathways. In recent work, Rothenberg has used this system to determine how specific transcription factors cause and respond to chromatin state changes and the impacts of these mechanisms on the dynamics of developmental progression in single cells.