All day
Place: ICFO Auditorium
Adel Al Jord (CRG)
"Mechanical control of nuclear genetic messages"
Abstract:
At the heart of biology lies a fundamental question: how do physical forces impact RNA-based genetic messages in cells? Despite potentially ground-breaking implications for health and therapeutics, this question remains poorly understood. In cells, cytoskeletal fibers and their associated motor proteins generate cytoplasmic stirring forces that agitate the nucleus and are transmitted inside it. Although evidence in the literature indicates otherwise, it is assumed that these forces do not functionally affect the nucleus interior. In this seminar, I will discuss our laboratory’s recent work, based on interdisciplinary and multiscale methodologies, that challenges this paradigm. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our published work showing that these cytoplasmic forces, by mechanically agitating the nucleus and mixing its components, regulate the dynamics and function of nuclear organelles responsible for the processing of messenger RNA. In the second part of the talk, I will present unpublished data that provide the first key insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning the regulation of messenger RNA processing via nuclear agitation. Our collaborative and cross-disciplinary research is expected to identify how fluctuations in physical forces, which agitate the inside of a cell, regulate the processing of RNA that is critical for cell function. In turn, this may pave innovative research paths to decrypt the mechanical mechanisms of nuclear RNA regulation across cells and organisms in health and disease.
Bio:
Dr. Adel Al Jord is a biologist who studies the mechanisms of organelle remodelling in cells. A self-described ‘mechanobiologist’, Adel explores how fluctuations in physical forces, which agitate the inside of a cell, impact genetic messages and cellular function. At the scale of an organism, the research can lead to a new understanding of processes underlying health and disease, as well as ageing.
2023 Group Leader in the Quantitative Cell Biology programme, Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain.
2022 EMBO New Venture Fellow in Systems Biology at the Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
2018-2023 Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, Paris, France.
2012-2017 PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Biology Institute of Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
2011 Pre-PhD Research Scholar at the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University (NYU Langone Health), New York City, USA.
All day
Place: ICFO Auditorium
Adel Al Jord (CRG)
"Mechanical control of nuclear genetic messages"
Abstract:
At the heart of biology lies a fundamental question: how do physical forces impact RNA-based genetic messages in cells? Despite potentially ground-breaking implications for health and therapeutics, this question remains poorly understood. In cells, cytoskeletal fibers and their associated motor proteins generate cytoplasmic stirring forces that agitate the nucleus and are transmitted inside it. Although evidence in the literature indicates otherwise, it is assumed that these forces do not functionally affect the nucleus interior. In this seminar, I will discuss our laboratory’s recent work, based on interdisciplinary and multiscale methodologies, that challenges this paradigm. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our published work showing that these cytoplasmic forces, by mechanically agitating the nucleus and mixing its components, regulate the dynamics and function of nuclear organelles responsible for the processing of messenger RNA. In the second part of the talk, I will present unpublished data that provide the first key insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning the regulation of messenger RNA processing via nuclear agitation. Our collaborative and cross-disciplinary research is expected to identify how fluctuations in physical forces, which agitate the inside of a cell, regulate the processing of RNA that is critical for cell function. In turn, this may pave innovative research paths to decrypt the mechanical mechanisms of nuclear RNA regulation across cells and organisms in health and disease.
Bio:
Dr. Adel Al Jord is a biologist who studies the mechanisms of organelle remodelling in cells. A self-described ‘mechanobiologist’, Adel explores how fluctuations in physical forces, which agitate the inside of a cell, impact genetic messages and cellular function. At the scale of an organism, the research can lead to a new understanding of processes underlying health and disease, as well as ageing.
2023 Group Leader in the Quantitative Cell Biology programme, Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain.
2022 EMBO New Venture Fellow in Systems Biology at the Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
2018-2023 Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, Paris, France.
2012-2017 PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Biology Institute of Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
2011 Pre-PhD Research Scholar at the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University (NYU Langone Health), New York City, USA.