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SUMMARY:Transposable elements and the evolution of the human brain - Profe
 ssor Johan Jakobsson\, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center\, Lund University\, 
 Sweden 
DTSTART:20191010T130000Z
DTEND:20191010T140000Z
UID:TALK129490@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Caroline Newnham
DESCRIPTION:\nThe complexity of human brain development differs markedly f
 rom other mammals and is thought be important for the emergence of higher 
 cognitive functions. However\, the precise genetic changes\, as well as th
 e existence of human-specific gene regulatory networks underlying the evol
 ution of the human brain remains poorly explored. Most of our knowledge ab
 out human brain development is restricted to evolutionary conserved develo
 pmental pathways\, while much less is known about primate- and human-speci
 fic developmental mechanisms. Identification of novel mechanisms that regu
 late human brain development is important for our understanding of the hum
 an brain and may also provide new links to the biology of human brain diso
 rders.\n\nAbout 50% of the human genome is composed of transposable elemen
 ts (TEs). Since TEs have entered the genome as mobile elements there are m
 ajor differences in the genomic composition of TEs between species. For ex
 ample\, hundreds of thousands of TEs\, including e.g. LINE\, SINE and LTR-
 type elements\, are primate-specific and several thousands are human-speci
 fic. While a small number of these elements remain capable of transposing\
 , i.e. move and amplify through a copy-and-paste mechanism\, most are fixe
 d in the genome as remnants of ancient transposition events.\n\nMy lab is 
 currently investigating if TEs contribute to the evolution of the human br
 ain. We have found a region- and developmental stage-specific expression p
 attern of TEs in the developing human brain\, which is linked to a transcr
 iptional network based on TEs. Several thousand TEs\, many that are primat
 e-specific\, act as docking platforms for the epigenetic co-repressor prot
 ein TRIM28\, which results in the establishment of local heterochromatin a
 round these TEs. This repressive transcriptional network modulates express
 ion of protein-coding transcripts important for brain development\, thereb
 y providing an additional layer of transcriptional regulation. Our finding
 s open up for several exciting future studies on the role of TEs as potent
 ial drivers of human brain evolution\, their contribution to individual va
 riation and the implication in human brain disorders.\n
LOCATION:Biffen Lecture Theatre\, Department of Genetics\, Downing Site
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