[Apr. 11] 108th IRCMS Seminar

April 3 2024

We would like to inform you that the 108th IRCMS seminar has been scheduled as below.
* This IRCMS seminar is open to everyone.

Date      : April 11, 2024 (Thursday)

Time      : 13:30-14:30

ZOOM　: Meeting ID:882 6198 4477
            　Passcode: 108Seminar

Speaker : Dr. Yuta Takahashi (IRCMS)

Title        : Transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic signatures in mammals

Abstract :

 I'm absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to establish my own lab at the IRCMS, Kumamoto University. Our aim is to make meaningful contributions to the scientific community at IRCMS and Kumamoto University. In this WIM, I will discuss my research on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals, which has been an attractive scientific subject. We recently demonstrated that DNA methylation of promoter-associated CpG islands (CGIs) can be transmitted from parents to their offspring in mice (Y. Takahashi, et al., Cell. 2023, PMID: 36754048). We generated DNA methylation-edited mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in which CGIs of two metabolism related genes, the Ankyrin repeat domain 26 (Ankrd26) and the low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr), were specifically methylated and silenced using our DNA methylation editing strategy (Y. Takahashi, et al., Science. 2017, PMID: 28473583). DNA methylation-edited mice generated by microinjection of the methylated ESCs exhibited abnormal metabolic phenotypes. Both the acquired methylation of the targeted CGI and the phenotypic traits were maintained and transmitted across multiple generations. The heritable CGI methylation was subjected to reprograming in parental PGCs and subsequently reestablished in the next generation at post-implantation stages. These observations provide a concrete step in support of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mammals, which may allow for a better understanding of biological evolution and the etiology, diagnosis and prevention of non-genetically inherited human diseases.

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