On May 3rd, we welcome Doctor Andreas Beyer, who will be presenting “A systems perspective on transcriptional stress during aging”. The seminar will take place at 11.00am, Lisbon time, Auditorium 2, Student Hub, Faculty of Medicine (Polo I), University of Coimbra.
Dr. Andreas Beyer earned his PhD in Systems Science from the University of Osnabrück, Germany, in 2002. Following this, he pursued postdoctoral research at esteemed institutions such as the Leibniz Institute for Age Research in Jena under the mentorship of Thomas Wilhelm, and later at the University of California San Diego with renowned scientist Trey Ideker from 2002 to 2006. Driven by a passion for unraveling the complexities of cellular networks, he assumed the role of Group Leader in Cellular Networks & Systems Biology at BIOTEC, TU-Dresden, from 2007 to 2012. Since 2013, Dr. Andreas Beyer has been serving as a Professor for Systems Biology at the University of Cologne and head of the CellNet Group.
Abstract talk: The efficiency of biomolecular processes declines with age, which is a major contributor to age-related physiological changes. These changes have widespread consequences for the transcriptome and thus require a systems-level approach. We have analyzed age-associated changes in RNA biosynthesis and found that the elongation speed of RNA polymerase II increases with age, which in turn leads to an increase in errors in the RNA sequences and changes in splicing. Reversing these changes of the Pol II elongation rate extends lifespan in worms and fruit flies, thereby establishing a causal influence of Pol-II elongation speed on age-associated organismal traits. Further, we propose a method for quantifying age-related changes in transcriptional regulatory relationships between genes, based on a gene-regulatory model. We used this method to uncover age-related trends in gene-gene relationships across eight human tissues. Our analyses revealed similar numbers of strengthening and weakening gene-gene relationships with age, impacting both tissue-specific (e.g. coagulation in blood) and ubiquitous biological functions. Our work revealed that while most transcriptional regulatory gene-gene relationships are maintained during aging, those with declining regulatory coupling mostly result from a loss of coordination between distinct cellular processes.
No registration is required. Certificated will be provided, upon request on the day.
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