Description | UW Pathology Presents “Somatic mutations, aging and cancer: A single-cell approach" Jan Vijg, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Genetics Albert Einstein College of Medicine Why Attend this Seminar? Genome instability, i.e., the tendency of the genome to accumulate errors affecting its sequence integrity, is a hallmark of the aging process and has been implicated as a causal factor in aging and age-related diseases since the 1950s. Here, I will first discuss methods to quantitatively study somatic mutations, including single-cell and single-molecule approaches. I will then present data showing that somatic mutations accumulate during human aging in multiple tissues, including B lymphocytes, liver hepatocytes and bronchial epithelial cells. Evidence will be provided that the burden of spontaneous mutations in differentiated cells is higher than in stem cells or the germ line and may relate to cancer susceptibility. Finally, the possible mechanisms through which somatic mutation accumulation can cause aging and age-related disease will be discussed as well as possible strategies to mitigate somatic mutation accumulation. Meeting ID: 994 1137 3399 Passcode: 5202122 |
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