The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Harvey Society

Speaker(s)

Edith Heard, Ph.D., professor, College of France; research director first class, National Center of Scientific Research; director, developmental biology and genetics, Curie Institute, Paris

Speaker bio(s)

The process of X-chromosome inactivation enables dosage compensation in mammals, and is a striking example of epigenetic regulation that raises several interesting questions. How are identical DNA sequences differentially treated in the same nucleus? How are differential states of gene expression stably propagated over hundreds of cell divisions during development, and yet reprogrammed at specific stages or under certain conditions? Dr. Heard's research has focused on this fascinating process for more than two decades: its developmental dynamics, its spatio-temporal regulation and its underlying molecular mechanisms. The lab's work in the mouse has shown that X inactivation is highly dynamic during early development, revealing a remarkable epigenetic plasticity in the early embryo, which contrasts with its stability in the soma. They also found that during the initiation of XCI, the X chromosomes display a unique spatial choreography in the nucleus. Transient homologous pairing between the two X chromosomes is observed, just prior to the up-regulation on one X of the non-coding Xist RNA, which is the trigger for chromosome-wide silencing. Dr. Heard's lab and others have shown that Xist RNA coating induces a unique chromatin structure and chromosome conformation, as well as forming a silent nuclear compartment into which genes are recruited as they become inactivated. The multiple functions of the Xist transcript and its complex regulation have rendered it a paradigm for non-coding RNAs.

 

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 7:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Dinorah Santiago

Phone

(212) 772-5472

Sponsor

Lindsey Cole
(212) 327-8183
lcole@rockefeller.edu