Jianlong Wang, Ph. D, Professor - March 19th 11am-12pm
Columbia Center for Human Development and Stem Cell Therapies
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Title: RNA Helicase, Nucleolus, and 3D Genome Architecture in Human Pluripotency Control

Major efforts in the field in the past two decades have dissected the transcriptional, post-transcriptional (including translational and posttranslational), and epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the maintenance of mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), leading to the discovery of many transcription factors, noncoding miRNAs/lncRNAs, translation factors, and epigenetic regulators acting alone or in conjunction to maintain pluripotency. Pluripotency entails unique open chromatin features compared to differentiated cells, and the global chromatin organization of ESCs predicts pluripotency and function. Recent studies have hinted at nucleoli as a central hub for nuclear functions in genome stability, aging, cell fate decisions, and cancer. I will discuss how our recent work has discovered an essential RNA helicase critical for the structural integrity of nucleolus in maintaining hESC pluripotency, and how the regulation and roles of the nucleolus in chromatin organization and genome architecture can be better appreciated to understand stem cells, development, and disease.

Hosted by Dr. Yuhong Fan