QBI Neuroscience Seminar: 'Intronic nonsense: Why we should stop ignoring them?'

Event Details

Date:

Wednesday, 20 September 2017 - Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Time:

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Room:

QBI Level 7 Auditorium

UQ Location:

Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Dr Justin Wong - Head, Gene Regulation in Cancer Lab, Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Program, Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology, University of Sydney

Title: 'Intronic nonsense: Why we should stop ignoring them?'

Abstract:
Eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) consist of coding regions called exons, separated by non-coding regions called introns. Under normal circumstances, introns are removed by a process called mRNA splicing, which allows joining together of exons to form mature mRNA transcripts, ready for protein translation. Retention of intron is traditionally viewed as a consequence of mis-splicing with little biological relevance. However, we and others have recently shown that intron retention is a widespread and conserved mechanism of gene expression control in normal cells. Aberrant intron retention is also implicated in diverse human disease. In this talk, I will highlight the functions of intron retention in normal biology and disease including those occurring in neuronal cells. I will also discuss my recent work concerning the control of intron retention via MeCP2-mediated splicing factor recruitment consequent to reduced DNA methylation.