Tugce Aktas: Restless Genomes: Transposable Elements as drivers of evolution and disease

Dear all,

It is our pleasure to invite you to the upcoming lecture on July 8th by Tugce Aktas, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin:

“Restless Genomes: Transposable Elements as drivers of evolution and disease”

Where?

MDC-BIMSB conference room 0.61

When?

14:30-15:30

Host:

Nikolaus Rajewsky

Credits for attendance: (0.1 credit/lecture)

Please sign the attendance list in the room; online participation is possible but does not qualify for credit.

Abstract

RNA splicing is a eukaryotic innovation and even though the spliceosome machinery is mostly conserved from yeast to humans, the number, length and distribution of introns is highly variable and can rapidly change during evolution. One of the contributing factors to this diversity is the expansion of transposable elements (TEs) that make up 47% of human introns. During mRNA synthesis, intronic TEs are transcribed along with their host genes but rarely contribute to the final mRNA product because they are spliced out and degraded. Interestingly, TEs are an abundant source of RNA-processing signals through which they can create new introns and chimeric transcripts. We work on several aspects of transposon-host interactions and their impact on the evolution and wiring of post-transcriptional RNA processing networks. By studying this wiring we aim to understand how TEs and failures in RNA processing could lead to autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases and we strive to identify novel actionable targets to tackle such disorders.

Bio

Read more about her research here.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you there!

Best regards,

BIMSB Events