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SUMMARY:Decoding transcriptional regulation. - Dr Alexander Stark\, Resear
 ch Institute of Molecular Pathology\, Vienna 
DTSTART:20170209T140000Z
DTEND:20170209T150000Z
UID:TALK69055@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Caroline Newnham
DESCRIPTION:In higher eukaryotes\, genes are expressed dynamically in comp
 lex spatial and temporal patterns\, which are progressively refined to set
  up body plans and define specific cell-types. Each cell is able to read t
 he regulatory information in promoter- and enhancer sequences to express s
 pecific sets of genes. In contrast\, we cannot decipher this regulatory co
 de – a large knowledge gap compared to our detailed understanding of the
  genetic code\, which allows us to seamlessly translate DNA into protein s
 equences and to determine the protein-coding gene content of any newly seq
 uenced genome.\n\nI am presenting our work towards understanding the regul
 atory code in Drosophila by an interdisciplinary approach. We functionally
  characterize regulatory sequences by enhancer screens in Drosophila embry
 os and cell-culture and by assessing core promoter activities of large can
 didate libraries. Computational motif analyses coupled to supervised machi
 ne-learning methods are powerful tools that allow us to determine motifs t
 hat are shared in functionally related sequences and are promising candida
 tes to explain regulatory function. We also study how enhancers activate d
 ifferent types of core promoters and how enhancer – core-promoter specif
 icity is encoded in the two elements’ sequences. We finally dissect the 
 combinatorics of transcription factors and transcriptional cofactors at en
 hancers by directed tethering in enhancer complementation assays\, which r
 evealed functionally distinct classes of transcription factors and cofacto
 rs.\n
LOCATION:Biffen Lecture Theatre\, Department of Genetics\, Downing Site
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