Imaging transcription factors dynamics with advanced fluorescence microscopy methods

PAULA VERNERI, JUAN JOSÉ ROMERO, MARÍA CECILIA DE ROSSI, YANINA ALVAREZ, CAMILA OSES, ALEJANDRA GUBERMAN AND VALERIA LEVI

MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018

0925-4773

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are capable of self-renewingand producing all cell types derived from the three germ layers in response to developmentalcues, constituting an important promise for regenerative medicine. Pluripotencydepends on specific transcription factors (TFs) that induce genes required topreserve the undifferentiated state and repress other genes related todifferentiation. The transcription machinery and regulatory components such asTFs are recruited dynamically on their target genes making it essentialexploring their dynamics in living cells to understand the transcriptionaloutput. Non-invasive and very sensitive fluorescence microscopy methods aremaking it possible visualizing the dynamics of TFs in living specimens, complementingthe information extracted from studies in fixed specimens and bulk assays. Inthis work, we briefly describe the basis of these microscopy methods and reviewhow they contributed to our knowledge of the function of TFs relevant to embryodevelopment and cell differentiation in a variety of systems ranging fromsingle cells to whole organisms