Always wondering about the fun stuff going on in the labs everyone is working in, after this week’s chalk talk, I found that the reality is SO much better! Four weeks ago, we stepped into our ‘arena’ having no clue about our projects yet full of curiosity and passion; now four weeks later, we are standing in front of our peers, presenting our projects with confidence and some expertise. I loved and enjoyed every talk. 🙂
I was particularly fascinated by Feimei’s project–direct reprogramming of smooth muscle cells. As her ‘cute’ cartoon indicates, smooth muscle cells make up a large portion of our organ systems as well as blood vessels. The differentiation into smooth muscle cells is controlled by a gene called SRF (serium response factor). When bound by Myocardin (its co-activator), it activates the target genes involved in smooth muscle cell differentiation and proliferation. However, there’s another factor that competes with Myocardin—the interaction of Elk-1 with SRF represses the process of Myogenesis. She explained her three approaches in accomplishing the transformation into SMC using the ‘super cool’ technique CRISPR-Cas9. By designing gRNA, she will be working on turning on expression of Myocardin, reducing expression of Elk-1, and increasing amount of micro-RNA to form the positive feedback loop.
What captured my interest is the process of gene-editing. Since I started learning about my project, I’ve always been amazed by the intricate regulatory mechanisms and the ability of cells to maintain the balance of this microscopic ‘ecosystem’. So I’ve been particularly interested in the chromatin landscape, which potentially causes the difference in cell-type specific developments. Feimei’s work involves manipulation of gene expression and therefore altering the chromatin conformation by synthesizing transcription factors to activate/repress target sequences. I think it would be interesting to see how the transcription regulation is affected in response to this manipulation and how the chromatin remodeling (e.g. the rearrangements of nucleosomes) is carried out. and I look forward to seeing how her project turns out at the end of this summer! 🙂
