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SUMMARY:Prof. Gräff Lab : Davide Coda - CRISPR-based epigenetic editing o
 f engram cells in fear memories
DTSTART:20221102T160000
DTEND:20221102T164500
DTSTAMP:20260408T060102Z
UID:af323e109aae405fff1799a0aac9723bfaebcd3e2f6050e568d5e2ce
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Davide Coda\, BMI\nHybrid - By invitation only\n\nEXCEPTIONALL
 Y AT 16:00!\n\nThe experience of traumatic\, life-threatening events gives
  rise to some of the most enduring forms of fear memories\, which can dege
 nerate into a devastating pathological state known as post-traumatic stres
 s disorder (PTSD). Nevertheless\, surprisingly little is known about how l
 ong-lasting memories are formed and stored. Over the past decade\, engram 
 cells have emerged as a plausible physiological substrate of the memory tr
 ace\, but the molecular mechanisms therein to encode memories remain incom
 pletely understood. In my research I combine c-Fos driven engram tagging t
 echnologies with in vivo epigenetic editing tools to assess whether and th
 e extent to which epigenetic modifications within the memory trace cells c
 ontribute to memory encoding. First\, I will show that in transgenic c-Fos
 ::tTA mice overexpressing the histone acetyl transferase CREB binding prot
 ein (CBP) in engram cells of the dentate gyrus increases whole-genome H3K2
 7ac levels and the ability to recall fear memories\, while overexpressing 
 of HDAC8 has the opposite effects. Then\, I will go on to show that epigen
 etic editing of a single site on the genome – using CRISPR-dCas9 coupled
  to transcriptional activators or repressors – is sufficient to alter me
 mory performances. Engram-specific\, dCas9-VPR mediated upregulation of a 
 master regulator of synaptic plasticity improves recent fear memory\, whil
 st expression of dCas9-KRAB-MeCP2 in the same cells at the same locus impa
 irs fear memory recall. Overall\, these findings show how the modulation o
 f epigenetic marks in a cell type and locus-specific manner can impact neu
 ronal function and memory capacity\; at the same time\, they deepen our un
 derstanding of the molecular mechanisms of traumatic memory storage.\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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