The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
Click here to participate in the public defence
Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Nima Mosammaparast, Washington University School of Medical Science
- Second opponent: Group Leader Lorena Arranz, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Bjørn Skålhegg, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Lars Eide, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Researcher Adam Filipczyk, Oslo University Hospital
Summary
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is one of the fundamental molecules essential for gene expression in all known forms of life. Moreover, accumulated studies had identified diverse RNA modification (minor changes to the chemical composition of RNA molecules) and highlighted their biological significance for regulating gene expression. However, the precise role of distinct RNA modifications in various biological processes remain incompletely understood, waiting for further investigations. To fill in these knowledge gaps, this study utilized in vitro cultured cell model to dig deep into how N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant internal modification in eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA), regulates two critical developmental stages, pluripotency regulation and subsequent primordial germ cell (PGC) specification, in early mouse embryo. This study found that m6A is required for maintaining pluripotency via modulating Erk and Akt pathways while it also safeguards PGC lineage commitment via suppressing ERas-Akt pathway. In summary, these results uncover the pivotal role of signaling pathways in m6A mediated regulation during early embryogenesis. Furthermore, this study together with numerous future ones may lay out a conceptual foundation which could bring us closer to developing therapeutical approaches by targeting RNA modifications.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.