MBI PhD Qualifying Exam

Time: 1pm
Date: 13 March 2019, Wednesday
Venue: MBI, Level 5 Meeting Room.

Supervisor: Dr GV Shivashankar

Mechanotransduction pathways regulating the geometric reprogramming of fibroblasts

By Yuan Luezhen, Shivashankar Lab

Our laboratory recently discovered that lateral confinement growth induces reprogramming of fibroblasts to embryonic stem cell-like states without exogenous expression of reprogramming factors. This highlights the role of cell geometry in regulating cell state switching. However, the detailed mechanobiology, especially how cell geometry could precisely regulate gene expression through altering the activity of transcription factors and controlling epigenetics states is largely unknown. The goal of my Ph.D. project is to elucidate the mechanism of lateral confinement growth induced reprogramming process.  In this presentation, I will show the rationale of this project along with the preliminary results demonstrating the role of Lef1 and β-catenin in this reprogramming process. My proposed research will have important implications in increasing the efficiency of reprogramming and also contribute towards understanding the role of cell geometry control in cell state switching in disease progression.

**Please note the examination following the seminar is closed-door**