The caspase-mediated tuning of Hedgehog signaling regulates ovarian stem cell properties
Il 08/10/2019 ore 12.00 - 13.00
Sala Conferenze CNR, Area della Ricerca Na1, via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131 Napoli
Dr. Alessia Galasso, PhD (Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) will give seminar on 'The caspase-mediated tuning of Hedgehog signaling regulates ovarian stem cell properties'.
Caspases are evolutionary conserved proteases, initially discovered for being the major regulators of apoptosis. However, more recent studies support a role of this protein family as key regulators of non-lethal cellular events, such as cell differentiation and cell proliferation.
Adult stem cells are responsible for the homeostatic tissue replenishment and therefore are essential to understand a large diverse of developmental biology events as well as the origin of multiple diseases.
Although there is evidence suggesting the non-apoptotic role of caspases in the regulation of stem cell properties, the molecular cross-talks between caspases and the signaling networks active in such cellular scenarios remains largely uncharacterized.
In my talk I will show you how I used the tractability and repertoire of genetic tools available in Drosophila for gaining new insights into caspase biology.
Taking advantage of a highly sensitive caspase reporter developed in our laboratory, we have uncovered transient non-apoptotic caspase activation in adult stem cells of the Drosophila ovary. We also molecularly linked this newly discovered non-apoptotic caspase function with the fine regulation of the Hedgehog pathway. Importantly, our findings are not a Drosophila curiosity and they are largely recapitulated in human ovarian somatic cells.
These observations have profound implications on our understanding of caspase and stem cells biology from a cellular, physiological and evolutionary perspective and illustrate some of the complexities of transferring caspase-modulating molecules into the clinic.
Organizzato da:
CNR - Istituto di Biochimica e Biologia Cellulare
Referente organizzativo:
Francesca M. Pisani
CNR - Istituto di Biochimica e Biologia Cellulare
fm.pisani@ibp.cnr.it
081 6132292
Modalità di accesso: ingresso libero
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