#IDIBELLseminars: Noncoding functions of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours arising from the pancreatic β-cells. While retaining the ability to produce insulin, insulinomas feature aberrant proliferation and altered hormone secretion resulting in failure to maintain glucose homeostasis. The role of noncoding regulatory regions and their aberrations to the development of these tumors is currently unexplored. We have now generated novel regulatory maps in a large set of human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Our epigenomic profiling provides a compendium of aberrant cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors that alter β-cell function and fate in their progression to pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and a framework to identify coding and noncoding driver mutations.

Hosted by Meritxell Rovira – Pancreas Regeneration: Pancreatic Progenitors And Their Nich

Dr. Pasquali is a Group Leader and Tenure Track Professor at UPF, Barcelona, Spain.
He received his MD and obtained his PhD in human genetics from the University of Genoa, Italy. Dr Pasquali specialized in pediatrics at the Gaslini Hospital in Italy. He subsequently trained in molecular biology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA and in transcriptional regulation at IDIBAPS in Barcelona, Spain.
His scientific interest is in understanding genome regulation and its implications for human diseases. He currently leads a multidisciplinary team including experienced computational biologists as well as researchers with primary expertise in experimental genomics and chromatin biology.