Cell, Development & Biomedicine (CDB) Seminars take place on Thursdays at 13.00.

Thursday 31 January

Speaker: Dr Simon Moxon, BIO

Title: Dissecting the miRNA biogenesis pathways in zebrafish

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) encode ~22nt small RNAs that regulate deadenylation, translation, and decay of their target mRNAs. In animals, canonical miRNAs are processed from a primary transcript by the sequential cleavage of two RNase III enzymes, Drosha and Dicer.

We have sequenced the small RNA population of whole embryos in the zebrafish model organism using dicer, drosha and ago2 mutant fish. Using computational approaches we have analysed the different populations to find examples of miRNAs that do not conform to the canonical miRNA pathways and identified other novel small RNAs dependent on each of the key enzymes in the RNA silencing pathway. Here I will talk about some interesting examples of novel non-canonical miRNAs and give a brief overview and benchmarking of computational methods for miRNA prediction.

Venue: ARTS 3.02

 

Thursday 7 February

Speaker: Veronica Steri, BIO

Title: Actute, but not long-term, deletion of endothelial ß3-integrin transiently inhibits tumour growth and angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is essential for tumour growth and metastasis. The dramatic up-regulation of αvβ3-integrin that occurs in the vasculature during tumour growth has long suggested the endothelial expression of this matrix receptor is an ideal target for anti-angiogenic therapy. However, results with drugs targeting αvβ3-integrin have been disappointing. Moreover, we have shown previously that αvβ3-integrin is not essential for tumour angiogenesis; β3-integrin-knockout mice show enhanced tumour growth and angiogenesis. While these findings may help explain disappointing clinical outcomes, they are muddied by the fact that β3-integrin is expressed not only by endothelium, but also by a wide-variety of other cells, each making a significant contribution to tumour angiogenesis. To address this issue, we have crossed β3-integrin-floxed mice to two endothelial-specific-Cre-transgenic models. Here, I will present the effects of endothelial-specific deletion of β3-integrin on primary tumour growth and angiogenesis.

Venue: QUEENS 1.03