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SUMMARY:EU LIFE Lecture - &quot\;Histone Chaperones Maintain Cell Fates an
 d Antagonize Reprogramming in C. elegans and Human Cells&quot\;        - D
 r Baris Tursun\; Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (BIMSB)\, Ma
 x Delbrück Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Associati
 on
DTSTART:20171012T120000Z
DTEND:20171012T130000Z
UID:TALK72865@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Bobbie Claxton
DESCRIPTION:Understanding the mechanisms that safeguard cellular identitie
 s is key to improving cell fate reprogramming\, which is of great biologic
 al and medical importance. We are using C. elegans as a model organism to 
 identify factors that act as barriers for cellular reprogramming. C. elega
 ns allows in vivo large-scale genetic screens and around 60% of its genes 
 have human homologs. We previously identified that the histone chaperone L
 IN-53\, homolog of human CAF-1p48\, protects germ cells from being directl
 y reprogrammed into neurons (Tursun et al.\, 2011 Science). In an analogou
 s study\, CAF-1 was shown to act as a barrier for cellular reprogramming o
 f mouse embryonic fibroblasts (Cheloufi et al.\, 2015 Nature). Such striki
 ng conservation from worm to mouse implies that reprogramming barriers mig
 ht be shared among C. elegans and humans. We performed a whole-genome RNAi
  screen against all 20.000 genes of C. elegans and identified around 160 n
 ovel factors that counteract reprogramming of different cells into specifi
 c glutamatergic neurons. Testing a number of the newly identified factors 
 in human fibroblasts revealed the essential chromatin regulator FACT (FAci
 litates Chromatin Transcription) as an evolutionarily conserved barrier fo
 r cell fate reprogramming (Kolundzic et al.\, in revision). \nAdditionally
 \, we are studying whether regulation of reprogramming is linked with Agin
 g regulation. Several observations in our lab suggest that reprogramming f
 actors are implicated also in lifespan maintenance suggesting a link betwe
 en safeguarding cell fates\, cellular homeostasis and the control of Aging
 .\n
LOCATION:Babraham - The Brian Heap Seminar Room
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