IAS Distinguished Lecture - Mechanisms for Epigenetic Inheritance of Heterochromatin

Abstract

The formation of heterochromatin and its faithful inheritance during development and adult life are required for silencing of transposons and lineage-specific cell identity genes. The speaker and his team have developed reporter-based systems that allow them to study the requirements for the establishment of epigenetic maintenance of heterochromatin in fission yeast and mammalian cells. Their work reveals roles for pathways ranging from DNA binding proteins and noncoding RNAs, which mediate specific assembly events, to complexes that mediate the spreading and epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin. The speaker will discuss his recent results on the roles of specificity factors, RNA decay complexes, and the DNA replication machinery in heterochromatin establishment and maintenance.


About the Speaker

Prof. Danesh MOAZED is currently a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He is affiliated with both the Harvard Biophysics Program and the Harvard Initiative for RNA Medicine (HIRM). In recognition of his contributions to science, he has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Prof. MOAZED's laboratory investigates the mechanisms of epigenetic gene silencing and its inheritance across cell divisions. The lab employs a multidisciplinary approach, integrating genetics, genomics, biochemical reconstitution, and structural biology to elucidate these fundamental processes.


For Attendees' Attention

Seating is on a first come, first served basis.