Scientific Personnel

Brief Bio

Maria Roubelakis performed her DPhil training at the University of Oxford, WIMM and Nuffield Department of Laboratory Sciences as a Medical Research Council (MRC) and Leukemia Research Fund, UK (LRF) fellow. She continued her postdoc training in the Stem Cell Laboratory, Nuffield Department of Laboratory Sciences, at the University of Oxford and in 2005 she moved to BRFAA, Athens, where she joined the Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory. In 2011, she was invited as a visiting Lecturer to perform research at the Stem Cell Laboratory, NDCLS, funded by the University of Oxford. In 2012, she joined the NKUA Medical School as Lecturer of Developmental Biology and in 2014 she was promoted to Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology. In 2015 she did a 4-month sabbatical at the Division of Medical Genetics and Department of Hematology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, funded by the Fulbright Scholarship award. In 2019 she was promoted to Associate Professor of Biology and applications of Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, NKUA. She is founding member of the Hellenic Society of Nanotechnology in Medical Sciences and the Hellenic Society of Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine. Maria Roubelakis is also elected member of BOD of the Hellenic Society of Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine and since 2019 serves as General Secretary of the Society. Maria Roubelakis teaches Biology to undergraduate medical students and she is active member of 12 postgraduate programs.

Her studies led to characterization of fetal and adult mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and their application in various disease animal models.  She has been studying the biology and more specifically the differentiation properties of adult and fetal MSCs, and in particular their paracrine effects that may exert a therapeutic potential in various diseases. Recently, her studies are focused on the use of MSC based therapies at the pre-clinical level, utilizing disease mouse models, such as acute hepatic failure.  She has been actively involved in the analysis, the functional characterization and the potential therapeutic role of the secretome derived from fetal and adult MSCs.

Selected Publications

MSC-Extracellular vesicles: The tissue regenerative outcome in liver diseases
A. Psaraki, L. Ntari, C. Karakostas, D. Korrou-Karava, M.G. Roubelakis. Hepatology. Hepatology, Aug. 2021, doi: 10.1002/hep.32129

P0-Related Protein Accelerates Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Migration by Modulating VLA-5 Interactions with Fibronectin.
Roubelakis MG, Tsaknakis G, Lyu FJ, Trohatou O, Zannettino ACW, Watt SM. Cells. 2020 Apr 29;9(5):1100.

Functional secretome analysis reveals Annexin-A1 as important paracrine factor derived from fetal mesenchymal stem cells in hepatic regeneration.
Zagoura D, Trohatou O, Makridakis M, Kollia A, Kokla N, Mokou M, Psaraki A, Eliopoulos AG, Vlahou A, Roubelakis MG. EBioMedicine. 2019 Jul;45:542-552. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.07.009. Epub 2019 Jul 12.

miR-193a-3p interaction with HMGB1 downregulates human endothelial cell proliferation and migration.
Khoo CP, Roubelakis MG, Schrader JB, Tsaknakis G, Konietzny R, Kessler B, Harris AL, Watt SM. Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 9;7:44137. doi: 10.1038/srep44137.

miR-26a Mediates Adipogenesis of Amniotic Fluid Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells via PTEN, Cyclin E1, and CDK6.
Trohatou O, Zagoura D, Orfanos NK, Pappa KI, Marinos E, Anagnou NP, Roubelakis MG. Stem Cells Dev. 2017 Apr 1;26(7):482-494. doi: 10.1089/scd.2016.0203. Epub 2017 Feb 13.

Sox2 suppression by miR-21 governs human mesenchymal stem cell properties.
Trohatou O, Zagoura D, Bitsika V, Pappa KI, Antsaklis A, Anagnou NP, Roubelakis MG. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2014 Jan;3(1):54-68. doi: 10.5966/sctm.2013-0081. Epub 2013 Dec 4.PMID: 24307698 

Therapeutic potential of a distinct population of human amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cells and their secreted molecules in mice with acute hepatic failure.
Zagoura DS, Roubelakis MG, Bitsika V, Trohatou O, Pappa KI, Kapelouzou A, Antsaklis A, Anagnou NP. Gut. 2012 Jun;61(6):894-906. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2011-300908. Epub 2011 Oct 13.

Transcriptional profiling of human cord blood CD133+ and cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in response to hypoxia.
Martin-Rendon E, Hale SJ, Ryan D, Baban D, Forde SP, Roubelakis M, Sweeney D, Moukayed M, Harris AL, Davies K, Watt SM. Stem Cells. 2007 Apr;25(4):1003-12. doi: 10.1634/stemcells.2006-0398. Epub 2006 Dec 21.PMID: 17185612

Endolyn (CD164) modulates the CXCL12-mediated migration of umbilical cord blood CD133+ cells.
Forde S, Tye BJ, Newey SE, Roubelakis M, Smythe J, McGuckin CP, Pettengell R, Watt SM. Blood. 2007 Mar 1;109(5):1825-33. doi: 10.1182/blood-2006-05-023028. Epub 2006 Oct 31.PMID: 17077324

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