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The epitranscriptome – Course and Conference Office

EMBO Workshop

The epitranscriptome

Overview

Conference Overview

The regulation of the transcriptome is key to cellular processes that underpin cell biology, development and tissue function. All classes of cellular RNA are subject to post-transcriptional modification, be it by direct chemical modification, editing or non-templated nucleotide additions. It is now emerging that the modification status of the transcriptome is dynamic and responsive to environmental/developmental cues. Together, this has elicited the realisation of an ‘epitranscriptome’ where post-transcriptional RNA modification coupled with recruitment of effector RNA binding proteins dynamically regulates genomic output. Importantly, mutations in setting or reading RNA modifications are causative of many human diseases or congenital disorders. This meeting aims to explore all aspects of this emerging topic, from methods development to molecular mechanism. Most importantly, the meeting will place an emphasis on the contribution of RNA modification to mammalian development, tissue homeostasis and disease.

Session Topics

  • RNA modification I
  • RNA modifications in stem cells and development
  • RNA modification II
  • RNA modification pathways in physiology and pathology
  • Emerging concepts

What past participants say about the conference:

“The Epitranscriptome EMBL conference rapidly became a must in the field.” – Mattia Pelizzola, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy.

“The conference provided an excellent opportunity to get the latest insights in the field of epitranscriptomics, presented by the world-leading academic groups.” – Gerhard Müller, Gotham Therapeutics, New York, USA.

“This conference was really good for me. I have learnt about new RNA regulatory mechanisms, especially m6A and how it’s an important target for RNA processing.” – Opeyemi Olotu, University of Turku, Finland.

Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Chuan He

The University of Chicago

USA

Speakers

Janusz Bujnicki

International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

Poland

Kamil Kranc

Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London

UK

Yunsun Nam

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

USA

Scientific Organisers

Conference Organisers

Lea Hohmann

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Aline Schnieder

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

Got something to say? Tweet it! #EMBOEpitrans

  • The virtual conference includes live-streamed invited speakers and short talk presenters with Q&A sessions after each talk.
  • Information on the live stream and access to the discussion platform and digital posters will be provided shortly before the start of the event.
  • Access to the recorded talks will be available for 2 weeks after the end of the event, until 25 February, 23:59 (Europe/Berlin).

The following time is used in the programme below:

  • Europe/Berlin

To find out the equivalent time zone in your location, enter Berlin, the programme time and your city into the Time Zone Converter.

Day 1 – Wednesday, 9 February 2022
Time (Europe/Berlin) Speaker
14:00-14:15Opening remarks by Scientific Organisers
Session 1: RNA modification I
Chair: Štěpánka Vaňáčová
14:15-15:15Keynote lecture: RNA methylation in gene expression regulation
Chuan He – The University of Chicago, USA
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
15:15-15:30N6-methyladenosine in poly(A) tails stabilizes VSG transcripts
Lúcia Serra – University of Lisbon, Portugal
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:30-16:00Understanding roles of m6A and m6Am methylation in mRNAs
Samie Jaffrey – Weill Cornell Medicine, USA
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
16:00-16:15Alphaherpesvirus-induced inhibition of the m6A writer complex and degradation of m6A-methylated transcripts
Ruth Verhamme – University of Ghent, Belgium
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:15-16:30Break
16:30-17:00Biochemical characterization of the mouse piRNA methyltransferase mHEN1
Ramesh Pillai – University of Geneva, Switzerland
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
17:00-17:15Heterogenous m6A methylation in single cells revealed using single-cell DART-seq
Matthew Tegowski – Duke University, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:15-17:30Redundancy vs specialization among YTHDF proteins
Laura Arribas-Hernández – University of Copenhagen, Denmark
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
17:30-18:00Meet the speakers of Session 1
18:00-19:00Poster session 1
19:00-19:30Optional Social Programme: Speed networking
Day 2 – Thursday, 10 February 2022
Time
(Europe/Berlin)
Speaker
Session 2: RNA modifications in stem cells and development
Chair: Matthias Soller
14:00-14:30Defining the m3C epitranscriptome and its role in human cells
Richard Gregory – Boston Children’s Hospital, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:30-14:45Nsun5 deletion promotes healthy aging in mice
Markus Schosserer – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:45-15:15Selective translation control by pseudouridine-modified tRNA fragments in stem and cancer cells
Cristian Bellodi – Lund University, Sweden
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:15-15:30Break
15:30-16:00The m6A code
Schraga Schwartz – Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:00-16:15Uridylation by the TUTase URT1 prevents the accumulation of excessively deadenylated mRNAs to avoid siRNA biogenesis
Dominique Gagliardi – University of Strasbourg, France
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:15-16:45Meet the speakers of Session 2
16:45-17:45Poster session 2
Session 3: RNA modification II
Chair: Dominique Gagliardi
17:45-18:15Newest features in MODOMICS, a database of RNA modification pathways
Janusz Bujnicki – International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Poland
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:15-18:30When the heat is on, turn up the Ac(4C)
Aldema Sas-Chen – Tel Aviv University, Israel
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
18:30-19:00RNA substrate specificity of METTL3/METTL14
Yunsun Nam, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
19:00-19:15Break
19:15-19:45The mRNA modification ac4C directly inhibits translation initiation at the Kozak consensus in humans
Shalini Oberdoerffer – National Cancer Institute, USA
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
19:45-20:00Uridylation of plant viral RNAs
Anne Caroline Joly – University of Strasbourg, France
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
20:00-20:30What spatial interactions can tell us about the function of m6A and m6Am factors
Štěpánka Vaňáčová – CEITEC, Czech Republic
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
20:30-21:00Meet the speakers of Session 3
Day 3 – Friday, 11 February 2022
Time
(Europe/Berlin)
Speaker
13:15-13:45 Optional Social Programme: Mix & Mingle
Session 4: RNA modification pathways in physiology and pathology
Chair: Michaela Frye
14:00-14:30The impact of the m6A modification on normal and malignant haematopoiesis
Kamil Kranc – Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:30-14:45Deciphering the role of tRNA methyltransferases in prostate cancer progression
Sandra Blanco – Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cancer (IBMCC-CSIC), Spain
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
14:45-15:15RNA cap regulation
Victoria Cowling – University of Dundee, UK
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
15:15-15:30The RNA methyltransferase METTL8 installs m3C32 in mitochondrial tRNAsThr/Ser(UCN) to optimise tRNA structure and mitochondrial translation
Markus Bohnsack – University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
15:30-16:00Meet the speakers of Session 4
16:00-16:15Break
Session 5: Emerging concepts
Chair: Peter Brodersen
16:15-16:30Identification and validation of 2’-O-methylation sites on mRNA
Christopher Holley – Duke University, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:30-17:00Function and mechanism of mRNA mixed tailing
V. Narry Kim – Seoul National University, South Korea
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
17:00-17:30Exploring canonical and non-canonical functions of cancer-linked dihydrouridine synthase enzymes
Wendy Gilbert – Yale University, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:30-18:00Cell culture NAIL-MS allows insight into human RNA modification dynamics in vivo
Stefanie Kellner-Kaiser, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:00-18:15Mitochondrial RNA 5-methylcytosine drives metabolic reprogramming required for metastasis
Sylvain Delaunay – German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:15-18:30Molecular insights into eukaryotic tRNA modification cascades
Sebastian Glatt – Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:30-18:45Break
18:45-19:45Panel discussion on emerging concepts and therapeutic implications
Chaired by Michaela Frye
Panelists: Victoria Cowling, Chuan He, Samie Jaffrey, Schraga Schwartz, Angela Eggleston
ONLY AVAILABLE TO VIEW LIVE
19:45-20:00Closing remarks
20:00-20:30Meet the speakers of Session 5

Practical Information

Registration Fees

Registration Fees (include access to all of the talks, digital poster sessions and online group discussions, and help us cover our costs to run the event. For further information please refer to the FAQ page):

PhD Student€140
Academia€190
Industry€240
EMBL StaffIntranet access

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for a complimentary registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Aline Schnieder for more information.

Confirmation and Payment

Registration will be on a first-come first-served basis. Your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee.
Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission deadline: 10 January 2022 (23:59 Europe/Berlin)

Only registered participants are eligible to submit an abstract. We only accept online abstract submissions.

After you have logged in and successfully registered, you will receive an email asking you to submit your abstract.  Click on the link provided and enter your abstract in the text box provided. Alternatively you can submit your abstract by clicking on the link on the confirmation page directly after registering.

When submitting your abstract you can also apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2-3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline.

Financial Assistance

Financial Fee Waivers

All academic and student registrants are invited to apply for a registration fee waiver, provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO. The registration fee waiver covers the registration sum that you have paid to attend the meeting. Conference participants are not required to pre-pay the registration fee to be selected for a fee waiver for a virtual meeting. If you have already paid the registration fee and are awarded a fee waiver, it will be reimbursed after the meeting.

Childcare Grants

For participants and speakers with childcare responsibilities there is the possibility to apply for a grant, provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO, to offset childcare costs incurred when participating at a virtual event. Eligible costs include fees for a babysitter or childcare facility or travel costs for a care giver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts have been received. Attendance at the event is required in order to be eligible to receive the reimbursement. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline.

Application

Applications for financial assistance can be submitted via the submission portal* (for the submission of abstracts for conferences) by completing the Financial Assistance Application Section (underneath the section for entering abstract/motivation letter information). The link to the portal can be found in the registration confirmation email that you will receive after registering for the conference.

For conferences, if you are not submitting an abstract, you can still apply for financial assistance in the submission portal. Take a look at the instructions for applying for financial assistance. Note that priority will be given to those submitting an abstract to present at the conference. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding your motivation for applying, and, for registration fee waivers, the reasons why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of registration fee waivers during the abstract selection process for conferences and the participant selection process for courses. Results will be announced approximately 3 – 4 weeks before the event start date. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Registration fee waiver selection is based on your current work or study location, your motivation for applying, the reasons for needing financial support and the impact this event will have on your career. Childcare grants are allocated based on career stage, with priority given to early stage researchers.

Further details

Check our list of external funding opportunities and read our information on attending a conference as an event reporter.

For further information about financial assistance please refer to the FAQ page.

Virtual Participation Guidelines

Guidelines

Please do:

  • Use the event-specific hashtag as communicated during the event for any related tweets
  • Tweet unless the speaker specifically says otherwise
  • Be mindful of unpublished data
  • Be respectful in tone and content

Please don’t:

  • Share Slack, live stream or poster session links with others
  • Broadcast the conference to unregistered participants
  • Capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting unless presenter gives explicit consent
  • Use offensive language in your posts
  • Engage in rudeness or personal attacks

Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.

Health and well-being

It is important to stay healthy and move around, especially when you are attending an event virtually. We have put together a few coffee break stretches and yoga videos. You can find these under ‘resources’ on the conference platform.

How to ask questions

Please use the Q&A function. It is possible to send a direct message to participants, poster presenters, and speakers within the conference platform.

If you have any other questions, you can go to the Help Desk on the conference platform. Click on ‘more’ on the top menu and click Help Desk. 

Time zone

The programme is planned based on Central European Time (CET) or Central European Summer Time (CEST) unless otherwise stated. As many virtual participants are attending from around the world, we do our best to accommodate as many time zones as possible when creating the programme. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance. Remember to set your time zone in your account. 

Virtual event platforms

We are using a virtual event platform for this conference. More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.

Additional Information

Please find additional information including FAQs and terms and conditions on our Information for Participants page.

Sponsors

Gold sponsor

Media partners

Disease Models & Mechanisms, The Company of Biologists Journal

EMBO reports, an EMBO Press journal

International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Open Biology, a Royal Society journal

 

Sponsorship opportunities

We offer a variety of event sponsoring possibilities, with the flexibility to select a set sponsorship package or combine individual sponsorship options to suit your event budget. Discounts are available for companies sponsoring multiple events at EMBL Heidelberg. View other conferences, or contact sponsorship@embl.de for further information.

If you are interested in becoming a media partner of this event, please visit our media partnerships webpage.

Warning

EMBL wishes to warn sponsors of EMBL conferences and courses of fraudulent schemes purporting to offer sponsorship opportunities on behalf of EMBL or affiliated with EMBL officials. One current scam campaign of which we are aware is conducted using the name ‘Judy Eastman’ (judy@gopcontact.a2hosted.com) and entails approaches to sponsors offering sponsorship opportunities on EMBL’s behalf. Please be kindly advised that all relevant communication regarding sponsorship of EMBL conferences, symposia and courses is handled by EMBL directly and is sent from an official EMBL account. EMBL does not work with any external providers on sponsorship acquisition.

Please also note that:

  • EMBL never provides attendee lists for purchase. Any offers of such are fraudulent.
  • EMBL will never call or email you to ask for your credit card details or to request a payment.
  • All payments are on invoice.

Suspicious communications purportedly from, for or on behalf of EMBL should be reported to EMBL at the following email address sponsoring@embl.de.

Pre-conference Webinar

Pre-symposium webinar will take place

on Wednesday, 9 February 2022 at 13:00 – 14:00 (Berlin / Germany)

Participation in this webinar is free of charge for registered symposium attendees. The number of available places is limited (first come, first served). All registered conference attendees will receive an email with a registration link.

Eclipse Bio: Inhibitors of the RNA binding protein, Igf2bp1, as novel targeted cancer therapies

Speaker: Prof. Joel Yisraeli
Chairman, Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research,
Institute for Medical Research – Israel-Canada
Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Igf2bp1 is an oncofetal RNA binding protein whose expression in numerous types of cancers is associated with upregulation of key pro-oncogenic RNAs, poor prognosis, and reduced survival. Importantly, Igf2bp1 synergizes with mutations in Kras to enhance signaling and oncogenic activity, suggesting that molecules inhibiting Igf2bp1 could have therapeutic potential. We have performed a high-throughput fluorescence polarization (FP) screen for small molecule inhibitors of IGF2BP1 RNA binding and isolated a small molecule that interacts with Igf2bp1 KH3 and KH4 domains and inhibits binding to Kras RNA. In cells, the compound reduces the level of Kras and other Igf2bp1 mRNA targets, lowers Kras protein, and inhibits downstream signaling, wound healing and growth in soft agar, all in the absence of any toxicity. After a second, optimization, screen, we have performed a multi-omic analysis to identify changes, following inhibitor treatment of H1299 lung carcinoma cells, in direct RNA binding sites (eCLIP), RNA expression (RNAseq), and protein expression (mass spectrometry). This analysis has revealed several cancer progression pathways that are inhibited and has identified novel mechanisms through which IGF2BP1 influences cancer. The inhibitor is currently being tested in vivo and shows promising results in shrinking primary tumors and preventing metastases in mice.  This work presents an avenue for improving the prognosis of Igf2bp1-expressing tumors in lung and other cancers.

Date: 9 - 11 Feb 2022

Location: Virtual


Deadline(s):

Abstract submission: Closed

Registration: Closed


Organisers:

  • Michaela Frye
    German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Germany

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