Stem Cells

Replacing lost or damaged cells is the cornerstone of regenerative medicine. To achieve this, we need to understand not only how cells acquire their specific identity but also how cell plasticity is regulated. Helmholtz Munich’s Stem Cell Center is unique worldwide in combining leading expertise in cell plasticity, epigenetics, and direct reprogramming.

Stem cells are unique in their capacity to proliferate and replacing cells – often life-long. However, many adult organs, such as the brain or the pancreas, have no or few stem cells. The Department’s mission builds on our pioneer approach to reprogram local cells towards the lost cell type identity in such organs and on our pioneer discoveries on epigenetic mechanisms of reprogramming. The key proteins that enable such fate conversion have been all identified for their role during development, when all relevant cell types are generated. Our Department therefore combines in a world-wide unique combination expertise in stem cells, developmental mechanisms of fate specification and plasticity including a strong epigenetic expertise with injury models and direct reprogramming.

3d rendering of Human cell or Embryonic stem cell microscope background.

Portrait Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla_freigestellt

Prof. Dr. Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla

Director of the Stem Cell Center, Director of the Institute for Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Group Leader, Director of the Stem Cell Center (rotating)

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Prof. Dr. Magdalena Götz

Director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research

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Prof. Dr. Wofgang Wurst

Emeritus of Excellence, Chair of Developmental Genetics, Technical University Munich; until 31.12.2024 Director of the Institute of Developmental Genetics, Helmholtz Munich

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Prof. Dr. Irmela Jeremias

Head of the Research Unit Apoptosis in hematopoietic Stem Cells

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Prof. Dr. Jovica Ninkovic

Head of Research Unit Central Nervous System Research

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Reprogrammed neurons upon Ascl1 expression and neuron-enriched mitochondrial proteins.

Antibodies attack a cancer cell or virus

Exhibition Stem Cells at Deutsches Museum_For Website

How do the many different cells in the human body emerge from a single stem cell – and what makes each one unique? The Epigenetics Community at Helmholtz Munich explores these questions in a special exhibition at the Deutsches Museum. From 14. to 16.…

Embryonic stem cells colony under a microscope 3D illustration

From October 15 to 17, 2025, Helmholtz Munich will host the 13th Annual Meeting of the German Stem Cell Network (GSCN). The conference aims to connect stem cell research across Germany and beyond, highlight the latest scientific discoveries, and…

2025 Future Insight Prize Awarded to Magdalena Götz for Breakthroughs in Brain Regeneration

Merck, a leading science and technology company, awarded the 2025 Future Insight Prize to Prof. Magdalena Götz from Helmholtz Munich. The award – a € 250,000 research grant – recognizes Götz’s pioneering work in the field of regenerative…

Researchers at Helmholtz Munich received the pre-seed competition m4 Award 2025 for their project SYNTRA, which develops new methods to deliver RNA-based medicines using artificial intelligence (AI). The award supports innovative medical research in…

Outstanding achievements in early-career research and academic mentoring were celebrated at an award ceremony held on July 2 at Helmholtz Munich. Two Doctoral Researcher Awards and the Best Supervisor Award were presented – prestigious honors that…

Develop a protocol for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from somatic cells in the in vitro laboratory _AdobeStock_760802337

Stem cells are transforming the way we think about treating disease, repairing damaged tissues, and even regenerating entire organs. As a cornerstone of regenerative medicine, they offer hope for conditions previously thought untreatable. In their…

Götz M, Torres-Padilla ME

Stem cells as role models for reprogramming and repair.

Pal M, Schauer T, Burton A, Nakatani T, Pecori F, Hernández-Giménez A, Nadelson I, Marti-Renom MA, Torres-Padilla ME

The establishment of nuclear organization in mouse embryos is orchestrated by multiple epigenetic pathways.

Bocchi R, Thorwirth M, Simon-Ebert T, Koupourtidou C, Clavreul S, Kolf K, Della Vecchia P, Bottes S, Jessberger S, Zhou J, Wani G, Pilz GA, Ninkovic J, Buffo A, Sirko S, Götz M, Fischer-Sternjak J.

Astrocyte heterogeneity reveals region-specific astrogenesis in the white matter.

Werner M, Trauner M, Schauer T, Ummethum H, Márquez-Gómez E, Lalonde M, Lee CSK, Tsirkas I, Sajid A, Murriello AC, Längst G, Hamperl S.

Transcription-replication conflicts drive R-loop-dependent nucleosome eviction and require DOT1L activity for transcription recovery.

Oomen ME, Rodriguez-Terrones D, Kurome M, Zakhartchenko V, Mottes L, Simmet K, Noll C, Nakatani T, Mourra-Diaz CM, Aksoy I, Savatier P, Göke J, Wolf E, Kaessmann H, Torres-Padilla ME.

An atlas of transcription initiation reveals regulatory principles of gene and transposable element expression in early mammalian development.

Allwyn Pereira, Jeisimhan Diwakar, Giacomo Masserdotti, Sude Beşkardeş, Tatiana Simon, Younju So, Lucía Martín-Loarte, Franziska Bergemann, Lakshmy Vasan, Tamas Schauer, Anna Danese, Riccardo Bocchi, Maria Colomé-Tatché, Carol Schuurmans, Anna Philpott, Tobias Straub, Boyan Bonev, Magdalena Götz.

Direct neuronal reprogramming of mouse astrocytes is associated with multiscale epigenome remodeling and requires Yy1

Gruber C, Krautner L, Bergant V, Grass V, Ma Z, Rheinemann L, Krus A, Reinhardt F, Mazneykova L, Rocha-Hasler M, Truong DJ, Westmeyer GG, Pichlmair A, Ebert G, Giesert F, Wurst W.

Engineered, nucleocytoplasmic shuttling Cas13d enables highly efficient cytosolic RNA targeting

Giovanna Sonsalla, Ana Belen Malpartida, Therese Riedemann, Mirjana Gusic, Ejona Rusha, Giorgia Bulli, Sonia Najas, Aleks Janjic, Bob A. Hersbach, Pawel Smialowski, Micha Drukker, Wolfgang Enard, Jochen H.M. Prehn, Holger Prokisch, Magdalena Götz, Giacomo Masserdotti

Direct neuronal reprogramming of NDUFS4 patient cells identifies the unfolded protein response as a novel, general reprogramming hurdle

Koupourtidou C.*, Schwarz V.*, Aliee H., Frerich S., Fischer-Sternjak J., Bocchi R., Simon-Ebert T., Bai X., Sirko S., Kirchhoff S., Dichgans M., Götz M., Theis F. and Ninkovic J.

Shared inflammatory glial cell signature after stab wound injury, revealed by spatial, temporal and cell-type-specific profiling of the murine cerebral cortex.

Tsunetoshi Nakatani, Tamas Schauer, Luis Altamirano-Pacheco, Kyle N Klein, Andreas Ettinger, Mrinmoy Pal, David M Gilbert, Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla

Emergence of replication timing during early mammalian development