Speaker: Professor Montserrat Corominas Guiu, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona.
Presentation
Organizers: IRB Barcelona
Date: Wednesday, 18 July, 15:00h
Place: Aula Fèlix Serratosa, Parc Científic de Barcelona
Host: Marco Milán, IRB Barcelona
Abstract
One of the most important questions in regenerative biology is how early signals generated by damaged tissues influence the transcriptional response of neighboring cells that participate in tissue recovery. This reorganization of gene expression patterns is shaped by the coordinated action of genomic regions that integrate the activity of multiple sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. Using genome-wide approaches to interrogate chromatin function we have identified the elements governing tissue recovery in Drosophila imaginal discs, which show a high regenerative capacity after genetically induced cell death. Our findings indicate a global co-regulation of gene expression as well as the existence of a regeneration program driven by different types of elements, which we have named Damage Responsive Regulatory Elements (DRREs). Some DRREs function as novel enhancers, acting exclusively in the damaged tissue, that cooperate with enhancers co-opted from other tissues and developmental stages, as well as with endogenous enhancers that show increased activity after injury. These enhancers host binding sites for regulatory proteins, including a core set of conserved transcription factors that regulate regeneration across metazoans.
Cell and Developmental Biology Programme Seminar