Generating and regenerating blood and the heart
| Dates: | 11 April 2014 |
|---|
| Times: | 14:00 - 15:00 |
|---|
| What is it: | Seminar |
|---|
| Organiser: | Faculty of Life Sciences |
|---|
| Who is it for: | University staff |
|---|
| Speaker: | Roger Patient |
|---|
|
|
This seminar is part of the Manchester Tissue Regeneration & Stem Cell Network seminar series. A key property of stem cells is the ability to divide without, or with restricted, differentiation. To gain insight into the mechanisms by which differentiation is controlled in blood (HSCs), and potential cardiovascular, stem cells, we are looking for clues as to how this property is programmed into the nuclei of these cells during development. We have identified the locations of HSC precursors, and many of the signals that programme them up to and including their emergence from the floor of the dorsal aorta. We are beginning to link the signals to specific transcription factors and miRNAs, and to determine the cross-talk between them as they build stable regulatory networks. An emerging candidate mechanism for restricting differentiation is cross-antagonism between competing lineage-affiliated transcription factors. We have identified such a mechanism as early as the branching between cardiac and blood/endothelial progenitors within the lateral plate mesoderm, and we have identified the signal that drives the decision. Extending the domain of influence of this signal may have been involved in the enlargement of the heart during evolution. Furthermore, the precursors with endothelial as well as cardiac potential may provide a handle on progenitors of interest to regeneration of the adult heart.
Speaker
Roger Patient
Organisation: University of Oxford
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
Lecture Theatre
Michael Smith Building
Manchester
