Adam Filipczyk's project group Stem Cell Dynamics and RNA Regulation
While the code of life is contained in our DNA, the instructions that enable pluripotent stem cells to become specialized throughout development, are written in copied messages called mRNA. The significance of such messages for a cell can be amplified by RNA modifications, the most abundant of these being m6A.
My group investigates how m6A regulation can steer pluripotent stem cells towards becoming functional tissues. Pluripotency is the unique capacity to specialize or differentiate into all tissue types of the body. This key property holds great promise for regenerative therapy applications of tomorrow.
A change in m6A abundances can amplify any given mRNA message, with great or small consequences for pluripotent stem cell differentiation. Until now, understanding which type of messages are amplified with the help of m6A levels to direct stem cell fate, has been the subject of much debate. Our group has shown that m6A abundances amplify critical input messages from a cell’s environment. Amplification of these ‘cell signaling’ input messages is key to instruct efficient stem cell differentiation.
Article in Norwegian: Forandringer i RNA-et påvirker stamcellenes skjebne (www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no)