The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Anne Brunet, Ph.D., Michele and Timothy Barakett Endowed Professor, department of genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine

Speaker bio(s)

The plasticity of aging and the regulation of lifespan by environmental interventions such as dietary restriction raise the possibility that reversible epigenetic modifications that affect chromatin states play a pivotal role in regulating longevity. Histone methylation is a reversible modification associated with active or repressed chromatin. Using a targeted RNAi screen in C. elegans, Dr. Brunet's laboratory identified a complex that trimethylates histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) as a key regulator of lifespan in C. elegans. Deficiencies in members of this H3K4me3 complex, including ASH-2, WDR-5, and the H3K4 methyltransferase SET-2, all extend worm lifespan, consistent with the idea that an excess of H3K4me3—a mark associated with active chromatin—is detrimental to longevity. More recently, Dr. Brunet's laboratory has found that the H3K4me3 complex regulates fat metabolism. Interestingly, modulation of members of the H3K4me3 complex only in the parental generation affects lifespan in subsequent generations. This work raises the possibility that environmental stimuli such as dietary restriction impact epigenetic modifications in the parental generation, and perhaps in subsequent generations.

 

Dr. Brunet’s work focuses on the molecular mechanisms of aging and longevity, with an emphasis on the nervous system. Her laboratory studies the molecular mechanism of action of known longevity genes, including FOXO transcription factors, in mammalian cells and organisms. She is particularly interested in the role of longevity genes in neural stem cells during aging. Another goal of the Brunet laboratory is to discover novel genes and processes regulating longevity using two model systems: the invertebrate C. elegans and an extremely short-lived vertebrate, the African killifish N. furzeri.

 

Dr. Brunet received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Nice in 1997, where she was a member of Jacques Pouysségur's laboratory. She did postdoctoral research with Michael Greenberg at Harvard Medical School. She joined Stanford University as an assistant professor in the department of genetics in 2004, becoming an associate professor in 2011 and a professor in 2014. Since 2011 she has been the co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging at Stanford. Dr. Brunet is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award in 2009, the Vincent Cristofalo “Rising Star” Award in Aging Research in 2012, and the NIH Director Pioneer Award, also in 2012.

Open to

Public

Host

Jeffrey Friedman, M.D., Ph.D.

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Linda Hanssler

Phone

(212) 327-7714

Sponsor

Linda Hanssler
(212) 327-7714
lhanssler@rockefeller.edu

Readings

http://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/?p=4035