Date: Friday, 29 October 2021

Venue: Seminar Room 2&3, G/F, Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Time: 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

Speaker: Mr. Ka Ki TAM (PhD candidate)
Primary Supervisor: Prof. Pengtao LIU
Presentation Title: Establishment of amniotic ectoderm stem cells
Abstract: Early human embryogenesis is a remarkable developmental process where pre-implantation stages have been well-studied. Nevertheless, much less is known about early post-implantation stages when the amniotic ectoderm (AME) is specified. This may be due to a lack of in vitro AME stem cell models for studying. To this end, we aim to derive pure AME cell lines from human expanded potential stem cells (hEPSCs). Transcriptomic analysis of hEPSCs differentiating in human trophoblast stem cell medium (hTSCM) reveals their bivalent differentiation trajectory into TSCs or AME cells. Optimizing media compositions allows an increasingly homogenous culture of hEPSC-derived AME stem cells. Additionally, we have selected a key amnion functional gene, ISL1, for CRISPR Cas9-mediated editing in hEPSCs to study the functional genetics during AME lineage commitment. Establishing AME stem cell models can shed light on post-implantation human embryogenesis and advance the development of in vitro human stem cell-based blastocyst-like structures (blastoids) into AME-specified stages.

5:30 p.m. 

Speaker: Miss Kornelia Anastazja GLADYSZ (PhD candidate)
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Jason Wing Hon WONG
Presentation Title: Casting light on the impact of the origins of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) stem cells in leukaemia development and effectiveness of treatment
Abstract: Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) can arise from different cells-of-origin. Recently mouse models showed that AML arising from haematopoetic stem cells (HSC) display different leukaemic properties to those from common myeloid progenitors (CMP). Nevertheless, the biology underlying their differences is unknown. Using epigenetic and transcriptional data generated from humaised mouse models of MLL fusion driven AML, the activity of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) and Wnt/ß-catenin pathway was found to be different between AML derived from HSC and CMP. Further targeted investigations of these pathways may reveal biological differences between these AML, and help understand their dissimilarities in drug response.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Cynthia Cheung at 3917 9748.