Santos Franco
thefrancolab.bsky.social
Santos Franco
@thefrancolab.bsky.social
I used to do science. I still do, but I used to, too. // Associate Professor at CU-Anschutz, Peds Dev Bio // Brain development, cell fate, oligodendrocytes, Sonic hedgehog, Notch // New Mexican // Chicano // he/him
September 6, 2025 at 2:58 AM
After spending most of the last 5 months writing grants (x6) and reviewing grants (x23), I finally escaped to the mountains this weekend.

We hiked to waterfalls, explored caves, rode horses, and soaked in hot springs. And I didn’t open my computer for 4 glorious days.
June 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Main event. #SWSDB2025 poster session.
May 3, 2025 at 2:42 AM
#SWSDB2025 lightning talks. JP previewing his poster on building the human brain (in mice). @bruceappel.bsky.social in the foreground. #SWSDB
May 3, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Pre-game fuel before #SWSDB2025. Always have to get a burrito de carne desebrada at El Modelo when in Burque. @bruceappel.bsky.social behind the camera. #SWSDB.
May 3, 2025 at 2:42 AM
O Captain! My Captain!
April 24, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Her data suggest a model in which Notch signaling establishes a chromatin landscape that inhibits neurogenesis and primes progenitors for a gliogenic program. Later, primed progenitors have an enhanced response to SHH signaling to drive proper timing and scale of the neuron-glia switch.
January 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Using Notch gain-of-function mutant mice for ATACseq and RNAseq, @luulitran.bsky.social found that Notch activity epigenetically primes genes associated with the oligodendrocyte lineage and SHH pathway, enabling amplified transcriptional responses to endogenous SHH and robust oligodendrogenesis.
January 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
@luulitran.bsky.social found that Notch signaling is required for SHH-mediated oligodendrogenesis, providing us with a framework to interrogate the intrinsic progenitor state that is competent to respond to SHH and to specify the oligodendrocyte lineage.
January 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
New preprint from the amazingly talented Luuli Tran @luulitran.bsky.social just dropped on bioRxiv!!

Epigenetic Priming of Neural Progenitors by Notch Enhances Sonic Hedgehog Signaling and Establishes Gliogenic Competence

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
January 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Same
December 9, 2024 at 12:28 AM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice In Chains.
November 19, 2024 at 5:06 AM