
Anne Bang's Research Focus
Dr. Anne Bang is an experienced cell biologist and stem cell expert who leads efforts at the Prebys Center to develop patient cell specific and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based disease models for drug screening and target identification. Her research program is primarily focused on neurological and neuromuscular disease, with the aim of designing human cell based models and assays that reflect higher order cellular functions and recapitulate disease phenotypes, yet have the throughput and reproducibility required for drug discovery. Towards this goal her group has worked to develop a suite of foundational high throughput assays to monitor neuronal morphology, mitochondrial function, and electrophysiology, using high content screening, and multi-electrode array formats. They have conducted high-throughput drug screens on muscular dystrophy patient cells, hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, and hiPSC-derived neurons, including from Alzheimer's patient specific hiPSC. Anne is a principal investigator for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Cooperative Reprogrammed Cell Research Groups consortium, and also receives research support from rare disease foundations and pharma sponsored collaborations.
Anne Bang's Research Report
Select Publications
Sherman, S.P. and A.G. Bang. 2018. High content screen for compounds that modulate neurite outgrowth and retraction of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neurons. Dis Model Mech. 11(2). pii: dmm031906. doi: 10.1242/dmm.031906.
Vannoy, C.H., H. Zhou, C. Qiao, X. Xiao, A.G. Bang*, Qi L. Lu* 2016. AAV-Mediated Mini-Agrin Delivery is Unable to Rescue Disease Phenotype in a Mouse Model of Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2I. American Journal of Pathology, in press,(*corresponding authors).
Bardy C., M. Van Den Hurk, C. March and, T. Eames, R. Hernandez, M. Kellogg, M. Gorris, B. Galet, V. Palomares, J. Brown, A.G. Bang, J. Mertens, L. Boehnke, L. Boyer, S. Simon, F. H. Gage. 2015. Neuronal medium supporting physiological synaptic activity and fundamental functions of human neurons in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 112(20):E2725-34.
Schulz T., H.Y. Young, A.D. Agulnick, J. Babin, E.E. Baetge, A.G. Bang, A. Bhoumik, et al. 2012. A Scalable System for Production of Functional Pancreatic Progenitors from Human Embryonic Stem Cells. PLoS One 7(5):e37004. Epub 2012 May 18.
Kelly O.G., M.Y. Chan, L.A. Martinson, K. Kadoya, T. Ostertag, K. Ross, M. Richardson, M.K. Carpenter, K.A. D'Amour, E. Kroon, M. Moorman, E.E. Baetge, and A.G. Bang. 2011. Novel surface markers for the isolation and transplantation of pancreatic cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. Nat Biotechnol., Jul 31;29(8):750-6.
Bang A.G. and M.K. Carpenter. 2009. Characteristics and characterization of human pluripotential stem cells. In Essentials of Stem Cell Biology, 2nd Edition, ed. Robert Lanza, Academic Press.
Bang A.G. and M.K. Carpenter. 2008. Deconstructing pluripotency. Science 320 (5872):58-9.
Kroon E., L. A. Martinson, K. Kadoya, A.G. Bang, O.G. Kelly, S. Eliazer, H. Young, M. Richardson, N.G. Smart, J. Cunningham, A.D. Agulnick, D'Amour KA, M.K. Carpenter & E.E. Baetge. 2008. Pancreatic endoderm derived from human embryonic stem cells generates glucose responsive insulin-secreting cells in vivo. Nat Biotechnol., 26(4):443-52.
D'Amour K.A,. A.G. Bang, S. Eliazer, O.G. Kelly, A.D. Agulnick, N.G. Smart, M.A. Moorman, E. Kroon, M.K. Carpenter & E.E. Baetge. 2006. Production of pancreatic hormone-expressing endocrine cells from human embryonic stem cells. Nat Biotechnol., 24(11):1392-401.
Patents
Jackson, M., and Bang, A.G. 2013. Theranostics platform and methods of use, Patent Application No. PCT/US13/26448, Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute, La Jolla, CA.
Kelly, O.G., and Bang, A.G. 2012. Methods for purifying endoderm and pancreatic endoderm cells from human embryonic stem cells, United States Patent 8,338,170, ViaCyte, Inc., San Diego, CA.
D'Amour K., Bang A., Baetge, E. 2012. Endocrine precursor cells, pancreatic hormone-expressing cells and methods of production. United States Patent 8,129,182, ViaCyte, Inc., San Diego, CA.
Green, C., Yu X., Bang A., Brandon, E., Kelly, O., Agulnick, A., Baetge, E., D'Amour K., Schulz, T., Robins, A. 2011. Stem cell aggregate suspension compositions and methods of differentiation thereof. United States Patent 8,008,075, ViaCyte, Inc., San Diego, CA.
Anne Bang's Bio
Dr. Anne Bang is an experienced cell biologist and stem cell expert who leads efforts at the Prebys Center to develop patient cell specific and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based disease models for drug screening and target identification. Dr. Bang has over 20 years of experience in the fields of developmental and stem cell biology. She obtained a B.S. degree from Stanford University, a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, and did postdoctoral training in the Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences where her studies focused on nervous system development.
Anne's experience in stem cell biology began in 2005 when she joined ViaCyte, Inc. where she served as Director of Stem Cell Research and managed an interdisciplinary group working to develop human embryonic stem cells as a replenishable source of pancreatic cells for the treatment of diabetes. Her efforts focused on optimization of the differentiation process, and then on advancing the cell therapy product into development, scaled manufacturing, product characterization, and safety assessment. Anne is a co-inventor on multiple ViaCyte patents, and her team's contributions played a key role in securing a $20 MM California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Award.
In June of 2010, SBP recruited Anne as Director of Cell Biology to lead efforts in stem cell-based disease modeling at the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics. Her role includes leading internal research projects, as well as external collaborations with academic and industry partners. Anne's research program is primarily focused on neurological and neuromuscular disease, with the aim of designing human cell-based models and assays that recapitulate disease phenotypes, yet have the throughput and reproducibility required for drug discovery. Towards this goal her group has worked to develop a suite of foundational high throughput assays to monitor neuronal morphology, mitochondrial function, and electrophysiology, using high content screening, and multi-electrode array formats. They have conducted high-throughput drug screens on muscular dystrophy patient cells, hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, and hiPSC-derived neurons, including from Alzheimer's patient specific hiPSC. Anne is a principal investigator for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Cooperative Reprogrammed Cell Research Groups consortium and has also received research support from rare disease foundations and pharma sponsored collaborations. She also serves on advisory boards for multiple biotechnology companies.

Publications
High-throughput screen for compounds that modulate neurite growth of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons.
Sherman SP, Bang AG
Dis Model Mech 2018 Feb 2 ;11(2)
Cell-surface markers for the isolation of pancreatic cell types derived from human embryonic stem cells.
Kelly OG, Chan MY, Martinson LA, Kadoya K, Ostertag TM, Ross KG, Richardson M, Carpenter MK, D'Amour KA, Kroon E, Moorman M, Baetge EE, Bang AG
Nat Biotechnol 2011 Jul 31 ;29(8):750-6
Neuronal medium that supports basic synaptic functions and activity of human neurons in vitro.
Bardy C, van den Hurk M, Eames T, Marchand C, Hernandez RV, Kellogg M, Gorris M, Galet B, Palomares V, Brown J, Bang AG, Mertens J, Böhnke L, Boyer L, Simon S, Gage FH
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015 May 19 ;112(20):E2725-34
Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Cells and Brain Organoids Reveal SARS-CoV-2 Neurotropism Predominates in Choroid Plexus Epithelium.
Jacob F, Pather SR, Huang WK, Zhang F, Wong SZH, Zhou H, Cubitt B, Fan W, Chen CZ, Xu M, Pradhan M, Zhang DY, Zheng W, Bang AG, Song H, Carlos de la Torre J, Ming GL
Cell Stem Cell 2020 Dec 3 ;27(6):937-950.e9
A Physiological Instability Displayed in Hippocampal Neurons Derived From Lithium-Nonresponsive Bipolar Disorder Patients.
Stern S, Sarkar A, Galor D, Stern T, Mei A, Stern Y, Mendes APD, Randolph-Moore L, Rouleau G, Bang AG, Santos R, Alda M, Marchetto MC, Gage FH
Biol Psychiatry 2020 Jul 15 ;88(2):150-158
Cholesterol Metabolism Is a Druggable Axis that Independently Regulates Tau and Amyloid-β in iPSC-Derived Alzheimer's Disease Neurons.
van der Kant R, Langness VF, Herrera CM, Williams DA, Fong LK, Leestemaker Y, Steenvoorden E, Rynearson KD, Brouwers JF, Helms JB, Ovaa H, Giera M, Wagner SL, Bang AG, Goldstein LSB
Cell Stem Cell 2019 Mar 7 ;24(3):363-375.e9
High-content screen for modifiers of Niemann-Pick type C disease in patient cells.
Pugach EK, Feltes M, Kaufman RJ, Ory DS, Bang AG
Hum Mol Genet 2018 Jun 15 ;27(12):2101-2112
High-throughput screen for compounds that modulate neurite growth of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons.
Sherman SP, Bang AG
Dis Model Mech 2018 Feb 2 ;11(2)
Polyglutamine-Expanded Huntingtin Exacerbates Age-Related Disruption of Nuclear Integrity and Nucleocytoplasmic Transport.
Gasset-Rosa F, Chillon-Marinas C, Goginashvili A, Atwal RS, Artates JW, Tabet R, Wheeler VC, Bang AG, Cleveland DW, Lagier-Tourenne C
Neuron 2017 Apr 5 ;94(1):48-57.e4