207 Oral - Closing Plenary
Sunday April 10, 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Authors:
Melissa Harrison; Meghan Freund; Marissa Gaskill; Tyler Gibson; Sam Krabbenhoft; Elizabeth Larson; Audrey Marsh; Eliana Torres-Zelada; Katherine Vietor

Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Keywords:
e. enhancers; a. chromatin structure

Coordinated changes in gene expression allow a single fertilized oocyte to develop into a complex multicellular organism. These changes in expression are controlled by transcription factors that gain access to discrete elements in the genome, allowing them to activate gene expression. While nucleosomes act as a barrier to transcription-factor occupancy, pioneer transcription factors have specialized functions that enable them to access binding sites within nucleosomes, establish accessible chromatin and facilitate binding of additional factors. My lab is particularly focused on how these pioneer factors act at the top of gene regulatory networks to control cell fate, including early embryonic reprogramming and stem-cell maintenance. By studying conserved developmental transitions using the powerful toolbox available for studies in Drosophila, we have begun to uncover shared properties of these pioneer transcription factors and identify barriers to their reprogramming functions. Our investigation of the pioneer factors Zelda, GAGA factor (GAF) and Grainy head and their roles in diverse tissues provides fundamental insights into how cell-fate transitions are controlled over development and how, when mis-regulated, can lead to disease.