Single-cell Technologies to Study Transcriptional Bursting and Alternative Splicing Regulation

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Rickard Sandberg, Ph.D., professor in molecular genetics, department of cell and molecular biology, Karolinska Institutet

Speaker bio(s)

Single-cell methods are widely used to investigate cell types and their genetic programs. The Sandberg lab has developed single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) methods that cover entire RNA molecules, which has been instrumental in their studies on transcriptional bursting regulation and alternative splicing. In this seminar, Dr. Sandberg will present how using allele-resolved scRNA-seq has enabled transcriptome-wide insights into transcriptional bursting dynamics and its genomic regulation. The lab is also exploring the detection of individual transcriptional bursts using time-resolved scRNA-seq (4sU labelling) to assess co-bursting of neighbouring genes in the genome. Additionally, the Sandberg lab is increasingly interested in studying how alternative splicing specifies crucial cellular functions, particularly in the brain. They have developed improved computational strategies to identify significant splicing differences between cells. Analyses of full-coverage scRNA-seq data from specific brain regions have revealed the extent of splicing regulation across cell types and provided insights into the RNA-binding proteins responsible for regulating specific exons. Furthermore, their analyses of alternative splicing and electrophysiology in the same neurons have identified alternative splicing events that can predict intrinsic electrophysiological features. Finally, Dr. Sandberg will discuss strategies for scaling up full-length scRNA-seq approaches for atlas-level projects.

Rickard Sandberg is a Professor in Molecular Genetics at the Karolinska Institutet, leading a research group studying transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation using novel single-cell methods. The lab pioneered the development of single-cell RNA-sequencing (incl. the Smart-seq methods) and has continuously developed single-cell technologies at the absolute forefront. Using single-cell methods, the lab investigated allelic expression in single cells, culminating in the transcriptome-wide inference of transcriptional bursting kinetics and its genomic encoding. Rickard received his Ph.D. from Karolinska Institute in 2004, thereafter pursued a postdoc with Christopher Burge at MIT working on post-transcriptional gene regulation. In 2008, he obtained funding to start his own lab at Karolinska Institutet and later the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He became an EMBO Young Investigator (2012), a Vallee Scholar (2015) and received Nordic prizes including Jahres Prize for young researchers (2014) and Göran Gustaffson Prize in molecular biology (2018). In 2015, he became a full Professor at the Karolinska Institute and in 2019 he was elected member of EMBO and the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute.

FLS lectures will take place in Caspary Auditorium and virtually via Zoom. We recommend virtual participants log out of VPN prior to logging in to Zoom. Please do not share the link or post on social media. This talk will be recorded for the RU community.

Open to

Tri-Institutional