21 Juin 2019: Mark Kotter, Cambridge UK – The stem cell promise fulfilled?

Neuroscience Seminar Series

Vendredi, 21 juin 2019, 11:30, R229 (2e étage), Centre Universitaire des Saints Pères, 45 rue des Saints Pères, 75006 Paris

Mark Kotter, Professor University of Cambridge, UK

Title: Inducible and deterministic forward programming

of human pluripotent stem cells into somatic cell

types. – The stem cell promise fulfilled?

Abstract:

The discovery of human stem cells has fueled hopes and expectation of using human

cells for drug discovery, research and cell therapy. However, during the past two decades,

technical challenges have limited a broad adoption of human stem cells. Many conventional

differentiation protocols are challenging, lack consistency, and are not scalable.

Direct cell reprogramming is a novel synthetic biology paradigm that is revolutionising

our understanding of cellular identity. An ever-increasing number of protocols mediating

transitions between cellular states challenge traditional concepts of cell types.

Reprogramming was thought to be restricted to and predetermined by conducive metastable

states of cells. Our recent work challenges these preconceptions. By overcoming gene

silencing phenomena in human pluripotent stem cells, it is possible to deterministically

reprogram human iPSCs into different human cell types within time scales of less than a

week. Large scale ‘omics studies provide a detailed insight into the molecular processes that

govern these rapid and efficient cellular transitions. In conclusion, cellular reprogramming

overcomes known bottlenecks of stem cell research and has the potential of providing

reliable cells for research and large-scale applications.

Those interested in meeting with the speaker please contact

philippe.djian@parisdescartes.fr