Lab News

In this project, we plan to employ CRISPR-based enhancer perturbation techniques, which will allow us to verify function of the selected evolutionarily gained putative regulatory elements. This knowledge will shed a new light in the mechanisms that orchestrate gene expression in the evolution of astrocytes. 

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In contrast to non-human primates, the human brain is equipped with unique abilities, such as speech or abstract thinking. Proper development and function of the brain require coordinated communication between its cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs)–small, lipid-made structures, that carry biological cargo, that is produced in the “sender cells” and transported inside EVs to the “recipient cells”, where they control particular processes.

In this project, we are going to explore how astrocytic extracellular vesicles and their content changed in primate evolution. 

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The mammalian genome is divided into domains of strong self-contact called topologically associating domains (TADs). The boundaries of TADs are defined by the binding sites of a protein named Ctcf and frequently interact with each other forming a three-dimensional architectural chromatin loops. Deletion of the Ctcf protein, abolish formation of TADs and loops, resulting in disruption of gene expression. The mechanisms underlying the architectural functions of Ctcf are not fully understand and are currently under intense investigation. The goal of this project is to determine, how RNAs contribute to the consolidation of archritectural chromatin structure during mammalian development.

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