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SUMMARY:TRIM28 controls a primate-specific gene regulatory network based o
 n endogenous retroviruses in human neural progenitor cells
DTSTART:20161125T081500
DTSTAMP:20260415T001147Z
UID:00b066cd983e709b4d4c79af5fb8cca3084f5e7cde676ccf1d0a03e3
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Johan Jakobsson PhD\nAssociate Professor of Neuroscience\nLabo
 ratory of Molecular Neurogenetics\nWallenberg Neuroscience Center\nLund St
 em Cell Center\nLund University\nSweden\nThe complexity of human brain dev
 elopment differs markedly from other mammals and is thought be important f
 or the emergence of higher cognitive functions. However\, the precise gene
 tic changes\, as well as the existence of human-specific gene regulatory n
 etworks underlying the evolution of the human brain remains poorly explore
 d. Most of our knowledge about human brain development is restricted to ev
 olutionary conserved developmental pathways\, while much less is known abo
 ut primate- and human-specific developmental mechanisms. Identification of
  novel mechanisms that regulate human brain development is important for o
 ur understanding of the human brain and may also provide new links to the 
 biology of human brain disorders.\n \nAbout 8% of the human genome is com
 posed of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). These sequences are derived from 
 retroviruses that have invaded vertebrate hosts for millions of years leav
 ing traces as inherited ERVs through germ line infection and subsequent tr
 ansposition. Several studies have found that ERV transcription is tightly 
 controlled at multiple levels in early human development and they have bee
 n proposed to participate in the control of gene regulatory networks.\n \
 nIn this study\, we find a region- and developmental stage-specific expres
 sion pattern of ERVs in the developing human brain\, which is linked to a 
 transcriptional network based on ERVs. We demonstrate that several thousan
 d ERVs\, many that are primate-specific\, act as docking platforms for the
  epigenetic co-repressor protein TRIM28\, which results in the establishme
 nt of local heterochromatin around these ERVs. This repressive transcripti
 onal network modulates expression of protein-coding transcripts important 
 for brain development\, thereby providing an additional layer of transcrip
 tional regulation. Our findings open up for several exciting future studie
 s on the role of ERVs as potential drivers of human brain evolution\, thei
 r contribution to individual variation and the implication in human brain 
 disorders.\n 
LOCATION:AI 1153 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==AI%201153
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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