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Oct 03, 2022
From 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Location QCCanada
IRCM Conference

Olivier Pourquié, PhD

Olivier Pourquié, PhD

Deconstructing human skeletal muscle development in vitro

Olivier Pourquié, PhD
Professor
Department of Genetics
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Pourquié Lab
Boston, MA, USA

This conference is hosted by Marie Kmita, PhD. It is part of the 2022-2023 IRCM conference calendar.


In person: 
IRCM Auditorium
110, avenue des Pins O, H2W 1R7 Montreal
Wearing a mask is mandatory at all times

Online:
Zoom Link : https://zoom.us/j/95269762104
ID : 952 6976 2104
Code : 476372

IRCM conferences are set to occur under a hybrid format. However, please note that last-minute changes to online-only lectures may occur due to unforeseen circumstances. We invite you to visit this webpage again a few days before attending.


About this conference: 
Skeletal muscles derive from precursors located in the embryonic segments called somites. These structures form periodically from a posterior tissue called Presomitic Mesoderm (PSM). The rhythmic formation of somites involves a molecular oscillator called segmentation clock which drives pulses of Notch, Wnt and FGF signaling in the PSM. Virtually nothing is known on human somitogenesis as it proceeds between 3- and 5-weeks post conception when embryos are extremely difficult to access. We have developed protocols to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (ES/iPS) in vitro into PSM. Single cell RNA-sequencing comparison of these human cells differentiating in vitro with mouse embryo PSM reveals that they faithfully recapitulate the PSM differentiation sequence in vitro. Using our in vitro system as a proxy for human somitogenesis, we were able to demonstrate that human iPS reporter cells harboring a HES7 fluorescent reporter differentiated to PSM exhibit 5-hour oscillations, thus identifying the human segmentation clock. We have also succeeded in generating PSM organoids that can sequentially form somites exhibiting a normal antero-posterior pattern in vitro. By mimicking key signaling events leading to muscle formation in the embryo, we developed directed differentiation protocols which recapitulate the developmental sequence of myogenesis. We then used these cells to generate new in vitro models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and to pioneer the production of human satellite cells for cell therapy strategies for muscular dystrophies. Our work provides a framework to study early stages of human myogenesis which are poorly accessible in the embryo.

 

About Olivier Pourquié:
Dr. Olivier Pourquié is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Frank Mallory Burr Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston (Massachusetts). His research program, mainly funded by the NIH, aims to study the development of the musculo-skeletal system from the paraxial mesoderm and to apply the acquired knowledge to recapitulate mouse and human paraxial development in vitro using pluripotent stem cells (ES/iPS). His impressive publication record includes articles in Nature, Cell, PNAS and Development Cell.

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