Happy Fridays is changing to Thursdays

Deciphering the impact of diet-induced obesity on cellular reprogramming and pluripotency.

Through somatic cell reprogramming (SCR) it is possible to reset cellular age, however, the impact of dietary habits on induced pluripotent stem cell technology remains poorly understood. We took a novel approach to investigate the impact of obesity on SCR through the lens of RNA metabolism, spanning from transcriptional to splicing alterations, pinpointing druggable targets, and pioneering therapeutic strategies aimed at extending healthy lifespan.

CV highlights:

BSc in Biology (2014, University of Porto, Portugal). MSc in Molecular Genetics (2016, University of Minho, Portugal). In 2017, he completed a 9-month Erasmus+ Internship at the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (Manchester, United Kingdom). In 2018 he joined the Stem Cells & Human Diseases lab, led by Miguel Fidalgo at CiMUS as a lab technician. In 2020, he joined the PhD programme in Molecular Medicine under the supervision of Miguel Fidalgo and Diana Guallar.
 

Tiago Moreira. PhD student, Stem Cells & Human Diseases Group (P1L4), CiMUS

Orc6 and its contribution to eukaryotic origin licensing

The formation of a double hexamer by the Mcm2-7 helicase is crucial for the replication process in eukaryotic cells, ensuring that DNA only replicates once per cell cycle. I will briefly explain recently published results, where we proposed how DNA is inserted into the eukaryotic replicative helicase. Additionally, I will discuss our current work on the potential function of a protein involved in this process, called Orc6.

CV highlights:

BSc in Biotechnology (2016 University of Texas, USA). She is a PhD student in the Chromosomal replication group led by Dr. Jordi Frigola at The Girona Biomedical Research Institute Dr. Josep Trueta (IDIBGI). The group studies how cells copy their genome. All cells need to duplicate their genome before splitting, even tumour cells. For this reason, it has been a significant therapeutic target to stop tumour processes. She is currently doing a research stay at the DNA Repair and Genome Integrity group at CiMUS.

Guerrero-Puigdevall M, Fernandez-Fuentes N, Frigola J. Stabilisation of half MCM ring by Cdt1 during DNA insertion. Nat Commun 2021, 12, 1746-1746

Marina Guerrero I Puigdevall. PhD student at IDIBGI (Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Girona)

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