Profile
Education
1998-2004 PhD, The Rockefeller University. Morphogenetic Movements during the Xenopus Gastrulation and Development of Biocompatible Quantum Dots.
1994-1997 B.A. Biochemistry, Brandeis University.
Summa Cum Laude and Highest Honors in Biochemistry
Research Interests
The goal of our research group is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in generating the three dimensional organization of tissues and the overall process by which the basic body plan of vertebrate embryos is established. During gastrulation cell and tissue movements on a massive scale create great complexity from a very simple starting form, resulting in highly diversified organisms with a precise three dimensional architecture.
Elucidating the mechanisms underlying these movements is important, because genetic mutations and environmental insults during gastrulation can lead to significant developmental deformities. A comprehensive understanding of this process and how it is affected by genetic mutations will help develop diagnostic and therapeutic tools for dealing with human developmental disorders. The study of gastrulation and morphogenetic movements has always demanded cutting edge imaging and the pace of discovery in the field has been set by advances in imaging technologies. The complexity of morphogenetic movements together with our inability to image them in vivo has forced researchers to study each movement isolated from the others. Yet if we are to truly comprehend the way morphogenetic movements give rise to form we need to begin the process of integrating what we know back to the embryo and view gastrulation as a unified process rather than individual components. Our laboratory with the use of nanotechnology and specifically the application of Quantum Dot nanocrystals is developing new imaging methods and technologies which enable the study of morphogenesis at the organismal, cellular and molecular level in vivo. In addition we are exploring the development of new types of nanocrystals and a number of wide ranging applications for Quantum Dots in Biology.
Selected Publications
Iro Eleftheriou, Andriani Ioannou, Andrea Lubatti, Anna Charalambous and Paris A. Skourides.(2011) High Resolution Whole Mount in Situ Hybridization Using Quantum Dot Nanocrystals. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology (in press)
Maria Andreou, Iro Eleftheriou, Anna Eleftheriou, Neophytos Christodoulou, Ioanna Antoniades, Andriani Ioannou, Nicoletta Petridou, Panayiota Stylianou and Paris Skourides (2011) Evaluation of total toxicity of effluents from several waste water treatment stations and major water sources of Cyprus using Xenopus leavis as a model organism, Journal of Environmental Research And Development Vol. 6 No. 1, September 2011
Charalambous A, Antoniades I, Christodoulou N, Skourides PA. (2011) Split-Inteins for Simultaneous, Site-Specific Conjugation of Quantum Dots to Multiple Protein Targets In vivo. J Nanobiotechnology Sep 15;9(1):37.
Eleonora Muro, Pierre Vermeulen, Andriani Ioannou, Paris Skourides, Benot Dubertret, Alexandra Fragola and Vincent Loriette
Single-Shot Optical Sectioning using Two-Color Probes in HiLo Fluorescence Microscopy
Biophysical Journal Volume 100 May 2011 1–10
Charalambous A, Andreou M, Skourides PA.
Intein-mediated site-specific conjugation of Quantum Dots to proteins in vivo.
J Nanobiotechnology. 2009 Dec 10;7:9.
Stylianou P, Skourides PA.
Imaging morphogenesis, in Xenopus with Quantum Dot nanocrystals.
Mech Dev. 2009 Jul 30.
Yan CY, Skourides P, Chang C, Brivanlou A.
Samba, a Xenopus hnRNP expressed in neural and neural crest tissues.
Dev Dyn. 2009 Jan;238(1):204-9.
Demetriou MC, Stylianou P, Andreou M, Yiannikouri O, Tsaprailis G, Cress AE, Skourides P.
Spatially and temporally regulated alpha6 integrin cleavage during Xenopus laevis development.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Dec 18.
Dubertret B, Skourides P, Norris DJ, Noireaux V, Brivanlou AH, Libchaber A.
In vivo imaging of quantum dots encapsulated in phospholipid micelles.
Science. 2002 Nov 29;298(5599):1759-62.
Skourides P, Perera SA, Ren R.
Polarized distribution of Bcr-Abl in migrating myeloid cells and co-localization of Bcr-Abl and its target proteins.
Oncogene. 1999 Feb 4;18(5):1165-76.
Personal Website: http://www2.ucy.ac.cy/~skourip/index.htm |