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SUMMARY:Capturing human axial progenitors in vitro - Dr Anestis Tsakiridis
 \, Department of Biomedical Science\, The University of Sheffield 
DTSTART:20171109T140000Z
DTEND:20171109T150000Z
UID:TALK75471@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Caroline Newnham
DESCRIPTION:Axis elongation in amniote embryos is mediated\, to a large ex
 tent\, by Neuromesodermal Progenitors (NMPs)\, a bipotent precursor popula
 tion which gives rise to both the posterior spinal cord neurectoderm and p
 araxial mesoderm. NMPs reside in the late primitive streak (PS)/tailbud\, 
 sites which exhibit high WNT/FGF signalling\, and are marked by the co-exp
 ression of the transcription factors (TFs) Brachyury (T(BRA)) and SOX2\, w
 hich are indicative of a mesodermal and neural character respectively. Apa
 rt from an excellent model for studying the mechanisms underlying cell fat
 e (neuroectoderm vs mesoderm) decision making\, NMPs also comprise an attr
 active source of clinically relevant spinal cord and paraxial mesoderm der
 ivatives such as posterior motor neurons and skeletal muscle. However\, th
 e limited availability of micro-dissected embryonic NMPs has been a major 
 obstacle to the study of both their biology and the molecular events drivi
 ng their differentiation. In my talk\, I will describe our work on establi
 shing protocols for the efficient in vitro production of NMP-like cells fr
 om human and mouse pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and I will present recent
  unpublished data focusing on the molecular characterisation of these cult
 ures as well as the efficient generation of their downstream derivatives.\
 n\n\n
LOCATION:Biffen Lecture Theatre\, Department of Genetics\, Downing Site
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