Speaker: Sebastian Lewandowski PhD (Karolinska Institute, MBB, Stockholm, Sweden)

Talk: Vascular injury accelerates the onset of ALS neurodegeneration: evidence from mouse models and patients.

Time: 30 June 2017, 9 am

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58

Efficient delivery of oxygen and nutrients is essential for correct brain function. Our studies focus on the mechanisms of vascular injury to explain dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier and decreased cerebral blood flow in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We found that presymptomatic activation of the PDGFC pathway leads to dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier in ALS mouse models and is correlated with younger age at disease onset in mouse models and patients. Vascular injury also leads to dysfunction of the vascular basement membrane where perivascular astrocytes detach from cerebral blood vessels and increase expression of specific extracellular matrix proteins. We found that the increase of vascular basement membrane proteins in plasma of ALS patients is correlated with decreased levels of glucose brain uptake and younger age at disease onset. In summary our findings show that cerebral vessel injury can be a risk factor for young onset of ALS neurodegeneration.

Speaker: dr Andrzej T. Wierzbicki (University of Michigan Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB), USA)

Talk: Mechanisms of RNA-directed DNA methylation

Time: 22 May 2017, 15pm

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58

RNA-directed DNA methylation is a conserved process where small RNAs target transposons and other sequences for repression by establishing chromatin modifications. A central element of this process is long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) which has been proposed to serve as a binding scaffold for small RNAs and associated proteins. In Arabidopsis thaliana, this lncRNA is produced by a specialized RNA polymerase known as Pol V. Pol V transcripts serve as a binding scaffold for several RNA-binding proteins, which mediate the recruitment of chromatin modifying enzymes. These enzymes contribute to the repression of transposon activity and help determine the boundaries between heterochromatic transposons and their euchromatic environment. RNA-directed DNA methylation has also been implicated in controlling organization of chromosomes, which may explain how it affects expression of distant genes.

Speaker: dr Marcin Dembek (Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University, UK)

Talk: Forward genetic studies of gene essentiality and sporulation in Clostridium difficile

Time: 24 March 2017, 9am

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58

Category: Faculty seminar

Marcin Dembek obtained his master’s degree in 2009 at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG while studying the potential application of B. subtilis spores as an antigen delivery platform for use in the development of an oral vaccine against Helicobacter pylori. He went on to secure a Wellcome Trust PhD scholarship at Imperial College London to develop genome-wide approaches to studying sporulation and germination in Clostridium difficile. In 2013, he took up a post-doctoral position at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford to work on the development of novel vaccine candidates against malaria before being offered a research associate position in Dr. Paula Salgado’s lab at Newcastle University where he studies the structure and function of potential drug targets in C. difficile. His current work is primarily aimed at understanding the organisation of the ‘molecular machinery’ involved in the engulfment stage of sporulation.

Dr Dembek is a member of the Microbiology Society and an active part of the Polish scientific community in the UK. In 2014, he co-founded Getty Science, an online publication platform aimed at researcher who wish to share their work through creative writing and illustration, as part of a close collaboration with the annual ‘Science. Polish Perspectives’ meeting.

Speaker: prof. dr hab. Marta Miączyńska (Międzynarodowy Instytut Biologii Molekularnej i Komórkowej w Warszawie)

Talk: Inflammatory signalling from the endocytic pathway

Time: 20 January 2017

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58

Category: Faculty seminar

Absolwentka Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (kierunek biologia molekularna, 1992), uzyskała stopień doktora w dziedzinie genetyki na Uniwersytecie Wiedeńskim w 1997 roku. Odbyła staże podoktorskie w Europejskim Laboratorium Biologii Molekularnej w Heidelbergu (1998-2000) oraz w Instytucie Maxa Plancka Molekularnej Biologii Komórki i Genetyki w Dreźnie (2001-2004). Od roku 2005 kierownik Laboratorium Biologii Komórki w Międzynarodowym Instytucie Biologii Molekularnej i Komórkowej w Warszawie. Stopień doktora habilitowanego uzyskała w roku 2008, a tytuł profesora w 2013.

Jej badania z dziedziny biologii komórki dotyczą mechanizmów molekularnych, które integrują transport błonowy, w szczególności endocytozę, z wewnątrzkomórkowymi szlakami sygnalizacyjnymi. Odkryła m. in. odrębną populację wczesnych endosomów w komórce, tzw. endosomy APPL. Wraz ze swoim zespołem scharakteryzowała nowe funkcje białek endocytarnych w regulacji przekazywania sygnałów oraz transkrypcji, a także rolę endosomów jako platform sygnałowych dla receptorów czynników wzrostu i cytokin.

Współautorka ponad 40 publikacji cytowanych ponad 2100 razy. Wygłosiła kilkadziesiąt referatów i wykładów na zaproszenie na międzynarodowych konferencjach oraz w zagranicznych instytucjach naukowych. Laureatka stypendiów Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) oraz L’Oreal Polska dla Kobiet i Nauki. Laureatka prestiżowych grantów zagranicznych: Wellcome Trust International Senior Research Fellowship (2006-2012) oraz Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar (2006-2010). Kierowniczka grantów finansowanych przez Polsko-Szwajcarski Program Badawczy, Narodowe Centrum Nauki (grant MAESTRO), Unię Europejską, Towarzystwo Maxa Plancka i Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego. Panelistka m. in. European Research Council (LS3 starting grants), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) z Francji, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) z Niemiec. Członek Komitetu Biologii Molekularnej Komórki PAN. Promotorka 7 zakończonych przewodów doktorskich.