Institutional Seminar Series: 'Circadian clock communication in health, ageing and disease'

Speaker: Thomas Mortimer. Postdoctoral Fellow Stem Cells and Cancer Laboratory. Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Barcelona (IRB).

Abstract:  A breakdown of mechanisms maintaining cellular, tissue and systemic homeostasis is a conserved feature of ageing. This decay includes a marked degeneration of daily rhythms in biological processes that are required to anticipate diurnal changes in the internal and external environment. Under homeostatic conditions, the daily rhythms of a tissue relies upon the cooperation between a cell's circadian clock and a multitude of tissue-intrinsic and systemic inputs. 

Often, these inputs originate from the circadian clocks of other tissues or cell types, giving rise to a crosstalk known as clock communication, many pathways of which are themselves altered by ageing. To provide new insights into this critical inter-tissue communication, Dr. Mortimer and colleagues constructed a mouse model with isolated communication between two specific circadian clocks. 

In his talk, Dr. Mortimer will begin by describing how this tool was used to identify the interactions between a tissue's circadian clock and systemic inputs, cataloguing for the first time the systemic dependencies of a tissue's daily rhythms. Then, he will explain his ongoing work to globally characterise and correct the changes that ageing provokes to these communication pathways. Finally, he will outline his future research plans to determine if the ageing of the circadian system reshapes the circadian biology of cancer in a manner pertinent to its prevention and treatment.

Join the session online: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/38123501609779?p=0dm2obbKaRr5lO5i5G

Meeting ID: 381 235 016 097 79

Acces code: zj6jk7d7

Registration: https://valldhebron.typeform.com/SeminarSeries1