Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E78
Höfundar / Authors: Milan Pieter Paul de Putter1, Halla Rós Eyjólfsdóttir1, Kristján Hólm Grétarsson1, Aminesh Sharma2, Lars Hagen2, Deo Prakash Pandey3, Erna Magnúsdóttir1
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: (1) Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Anatomy and Biomedical Science, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland. (2) , Dept. of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology University of Oslo. (3) Dept. of Microbiology, Rikshospitalet, University of Oslo.
Kynnir / Presenter: Milan de Putter
Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the founding population of the germ line and are thus central to reproductive biology. The reproductive homeobox (RHOX) factors are unique among homeobox transcription factors for their primary expression in the reproductive system including PGCs. Nevertheless, the protein-protein interactions, binding sites, and biological roles of these factors have remained largely uncharacterized. Our in vitro immunofluorescence assays demonstrate that RHOX5 and RHOX6 are expressed in both embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs) in a heterogeneous pattern. The percentage of cells expressing these factors increases from 10-20% in ESCs to 30-40% in EpiLCs at 48-hours of differentiation, a timepoint optimal for inducing PGC-like cells (PGCLCs). Mass spectrometry (MS) experiments further indicate strong associations of RHOX5 and RHOX6 with select chromatin remodelers, transcription factors, and histone modifiers relevant to PGC specification. Additionally, ongoing ChIP-seq experiments are poised to reveal the direct binding sites of RHOX5 and RHOX6 and provide deeper insight into the interactions with these co-binding proteins. These findings are finally integrated into a functional PGCLC model to characterize the molecular mechanisms of RHOX5 and RHOX6 and their effects on PGCLC specification through these interactions. Together, these findings reveal a potential new role and mechanism of action for the RHOX proteins in PGC specification