On Thursday (11.12) we will host Paweł Mikulski, PhD (Laboratory of Immunological Epigenetics, Nencki Institute). His lecture will be entitled: "Remember & forget: the mechanisms and functions of epigenetic transcriptional memory". The lecture will take place at 3 p.m. in the CN lecture hall and it will be followed by a get together.

Abstract:

The inheritance of gene expression states is a central principle in biology, shaping cell fate decisions during development, immune responses, and adaptation to stress. While the maintenance of gene silencing has been extensively studied, the mechanisms that sustain active gene expression—known as transcriptional memory—remain poorly understood.

Our research investigates the mechanisms and functions of transcriptional memory using interferon-γ (IFNγ) signaling as a paradigm. Upon IFNγ exposure, human cells transiently activate a broad set of genes. Remarkably, a subset of these genes retains a “poised” state that enables rapid reactivation upon subsequent stimulations, effectively encoding a molecular memory of past immune activation. These memory genes play key roles in immune defense, including antigen presentation, inflammasome activation, and immune checkpoint control. Their dysregulation contributes to immune evasion in cancer, underscoring the biomedical relevance of understanding how such memory is established and maintained.

We have identified a unique chromatin signature characterized by specific histone post-translational modifications that underlies the maintenance of transcriptional memory. Moreover, we discovered chromatin-associated regulators that control the specificity and establishment of this process and uncovered a role for transcriptional memory in cancer immune surveillance. Through these findings, we aim to advance the knowledge of epigenetic regulation in immunity and stress acclimation.