Mechanisms of Cellular Plasticity and Adaptive Gene Regulation
Event Details
- Type
- Friday Lecture Series
- Speaker(s)
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Itai Yanai, Ph.D., professor, department of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology, Institute for Systems Genetics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine
- Speaker bio(s)
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Cancer cells’ persistent ability to evade therapy reflects their remarkable adaptive capacity. While resistance has long been debated as arising either from genetic or cellular plasticity, recent evidence supports a “plasticity-first” model: cells initially adopt adaptive states through physiological stress responses, and are subsequently stabilized by epigenetic memory and genetic mutations. In this seminar Dr. Yanai will present evidence that cancer cells undergo exploratory gene reprogramming to evolve resistant states and propose the underlying mechanisms, including stress-induced feedback, regulatory combinatorics, and cellular memory for maintaining and recalling adaptive states. Finally, he will highlight the broader relevance of these mechanisms – extending beyond cancer to contexts such as inflammation and neurobiology – and the insights they offer into the origin and evolution of novel gene programs.
Itai Yanai is a Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine where he and his team research dynamic gene regulation in complex biological systems. The Yanai lab has made contributions to diverse fields including the evolution of developmental gene expression programs, cellular plasticity and developmental constraint in tumor progression and drug resistance, and bacterial genome regulation. Yanai received his undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering and the Philosophy of Science and his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from Boston University. He co-authored The Society of Genes with Martin Lercher and co-founded the Night Science Institute, which promotes creativity as an essential complement to hypothesis-driven scientific inquiry.
- Open to
- Tri-Institutional