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SUMMARY:Smooth muscle specific alternative splicing: super-enhancers point
  the way - Professor Chris Smith\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20180517T120000Z
DTEND:20180517T130000Z
UID:TALK98863@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:47770
DESCRIPTION:• Alternative splicing (AS) is a key mechanism of gene regul
 ation\, affecting the majority of human genes. Dysregulation of AS leads t
 o human disease\, but therapeutic manipulation of AS has also proven to be
  effective for treatment of disease.\n• We are interested in how the AS 
 splicing programme is regulated in vascular smooth muscle cells\, which sh
 ow phenotypic plasticity and can interconvert between differentiated contr
 actile and synthetic proliferative states in association with vascular dis
 ease. We have previously characterized the roles of RNA binding proteins s
 uch as PTBP1 and MBNL1 in regulating some smooth muscle AS events\, but le
 vels and activity of these proteins are not sufficient to explain regulati
 on of the smooth muscle splicing programme.\n• By identifying RNA bindin
 g protein genes that are associated with transcriptional super-enhancers i
 n smooth muscle tissues\, we have identified an RNA binding protein that r
 egulates numerous smooth muscle AS events. Among its targets is an exon th
 at determines the activity of the key smooth muscle transcription factor m
 yocardin\, consistent with the suggestion that our new RNA binding protein
  is a “master regulator” of AS in smooth muscle cells.
LOCATION:School of Clinical Medicine\, Lecture Theatre Two
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