Ibrahim Cisse "Super-resolution imaging of transcription in living cells "
Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
Friday 7 March 2025, 10:00Passed
Super-resolution imaging of transcription in living cells Ibrahim Cissé Department of Biological Physics, Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany We will discuss the latest efforts in our laboratory to develop highly sensitive methods of microscopy, to go directly inside living cells and uncover the behavior of single biomolecules as they effect their function in transcription. Transcription is the first step in gene expression regulation, during which genetic information on DNA is decoded into RNA transcripts. Methodologically, the so-called live cell single molecule and super-resolution techniques – that break the optical diffraction limit – are revealing with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, novel emergent phenomena inside the living cells. We will discuss our recent discoveries on highly dynamic biomolecular clustering, and phase transitions in vivo. These discoveries are challenging the ‘textbook view’ on how our genome (DNA) is decoded in living cells. References: Fig. A three-way kissing model of gene burst enhancement by transcriptional condensates. When the condensate is distal, there is basal gene bursting; when the condensate kisses the superenhancer, the gene with proximal cis-regulatory elements, there is a burst enhancement. Du, M., Stitzinger, S., Spille, J.H., Cho, W.K., Lee, C., Hijaz, M., Quintana, A., Cissé, I. I. (2024). Direct observation of a condensate effect on super-enhancer controlled gene bursting, Cell. doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.005 Cho, W. K., Spille, J. H., Hecht, M., Lee, C., Li, C., Grube, V., & Cisse, I. I. (2018). Mediator and RNA polymerase II clusters associate in transcription-dependent condensates. Science, 361(6400), 412-415. Keywords: transcriptional condensate; gene burst; kissing model
