Translational control of the self-renewal versus differentiation decision in the germ line Center for Developmental Biology

Home > Seminars and Events > Translational control of the self-renewal versus differentiation decision in the germ line

Category	Seminar
Date and Time	2010-03-19 13:30 - 14:30
Venue	Seminar Room A7F
Speaker	Rafal Ciosk
Affiliation	Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Title	Translational control of the self-renewal versus differentiation decision in the germ line
Poster	click here to download(PDF)
Host	Asako Sugimoto
Summary	Balancing proliferation and differentiation is critical for development and tissue self-renewal. In the germ line, the self-renewal versus differentiation decision depends on many conserved RNA-binding proteins. However, how precisely these proteins control the cell cycle status has remained elusive. Using C. elegans as a model, we find that translational regulation of cyclin E/CDK-2 activity determines whether germ cells self-renew or differentiate. Interestingly, this regulation is also critical for germ line totipotency, providing a paradigm for the possible origin of human teratocarcinomas.