Prof Marco Foiani from University of Milan discusses how surveillance mechanisms assist and protect replication forks in the process of genome replication. A combination of genetic, genomic and mechanistic studies in yeast identifies the factors involved in coordinating replication fork progression.
In replicating the genome, replication forks spearheaded by the replication machinery encounter all sorts of stresses such as spontaneous DNA damage, unusual DNA sequences, colliding transcription machinery, tightly bound protein-DNA complexes as well as topological constraints. Failure to overcome these physical challenges leads to chromosome breakage, unwanted rearrangements and errors in replication. In his talk, Prof Foiani will discuss how surveillance mechanisms in the form of checkpoints assist and protect replication forks to the final leg of their mission.
The Foiani Group uses a combination of genetic, genomic and mechanistic studies in yeast to identify the factors involved in coordinating replication fork progression with the Mec1 and Rad53 (ATR and Chk2 respectively in humans)-mediated checkpoint response. They found that several proteins involved in mRNA biogenesis, mRNA export and gene gating play an important role in promoting fork reversal at stalled replication forks, specifically when the checkpoint response is defective. These and other data suggest that the checkpoint response controls the physical connections between replicating chromosomes and the nuclear envelope to facilitate fork progression across transcribed units and to prevent aberrant topological transitions at stalled forks.
About the speaker
Marco Foiani received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Milan in 1988. He has taught at his alma mater since 1990, and became Full Professor in Molecular Biology in 2002. He is the Scientific Director of IFOM - The FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology Foundation, a cutting-edge science and technology center focused on the study of the molecular mechanisms of cancer formation and development. He also heads the Genome Integrity Laboratory at IFOM.
Prof Foiani’s research interest focuses on the regulatory mechanisms that control genome integrity. In particular, his work has contributed to elucidate the cellular mechanisms causing genome instability in cancer cells and chromosome abnormalities in certain human syndromes leading to cancer predisposition. He has published numerous seminal papers on DNA replication and repair in high profile international scientific journals.
Prof Foiani is member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the Academia Europaea, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Italian Society of Genetics (AGI), and the Italian Society of Biophysics and Molecular Biology (SIBBM). He was recipient of the Award from the Italian Society for Biophysics and Molecular Biology (SIBBM), the Biotec Award promoted by Amgen and Dompé, the “Chiara D’Onofrio” Prize from the Italian Federation of Life Sciences. He is the founder and vice-president of the European Nanomedicine Foundation (CEN). He is on the Scientific Advisory Board of AIRC, the Italian Cancer Research Association. He is also member of the editorial board of Cell and editor and reviewer for top impact factor scientific journals.
