February 3 – 5, 2016

Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine National Centre for Biological Sciences Bangalore, India

IFOM-inStem Conference on

Inflammation and

Tissue Homeostasis

Dear Conference Participants,

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to Bangalore for the

IFOM-inStem Conference on Inflammation and Tissue Homeostasis.

With a long history of success in the field of information technology,

Bangalore has earned the nickname of being the Silicon Valley of India.

More recently, this city is also emerging as the biotech capital of the

country. Among the institutional cohorts that have made an important

contribution to the development of this explosive growth in

biotechnology is the cluster of the National Centre for Biological

Sciences (NCBS), the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative

Medicine (inStem), and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms

(C-CAMP). The NCBS-inStem-CCAMP biocluster, together with its

international partners and most notably with IFOM Foundation, Institute

FIRC of Molecular Oncology of Milan-Italy, is advancing our

understanding of basic biology and using this knowledge to bring new

therapies and technologies to the market.

This environment is thus an ideal setting to host a conference that will

broadly discuss issues that will one day lead to the ability to replace

tissues lost to damage, age, or disease with functional tissues. Making

this goal a reality is contingent upon a thorough knowledge of the

behavior of stem cells in the development and maintenance of organs

in the body. An emerging paradigm in the understanding and

application of regenerative medicine is the impact of inflammation on

the cells that rebuild/regenerate a tissue. Not only do infiltrating

immune cells fight off infection through the damaged tissue, but they

are increasingly being appreciated for their role in regulating

stem/progenitor cell behavior. This conference will provide a unique

opportunity to further the crosstalk between the two fields of

inflammation and tissue homeostasis in order to understand the

reciprocal interactions between leukocytes and stem/progenitor cells.

Conference participants represent a diverse array of scientists from

academia, the clinic, and from industry. This congregation of scientists

will bring a broad set of approaches and perspectives to highlight

recent breakthroughs that will advance the art of regenerative medicine

and tissue repair addressed from both physiological and pathological

avenues.

We thank you for your participation in this conference and hope that in

addition to discussing exciting science, new collaborations and

friendships can be formed over the next 2.5 days.

With warmest wishes,

Dr. Colin Jamora and Dr. Giorgio Scita

The Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

(inStem) is a research institution in Bangalore, India, with a scientific

mandate that encompasses the broad area of stem cell and

regenerative biology. Research at inStem integrates a wide range of

topics within the scope of stem cell biology – from investigations on

the fundamental mechanisms that control differentiation and renewal

in tissues, to clinical studies on the impact of stem cells during

recovery from injuries such as strokes. inStem emphasizes

collaborative research through cross-disciplinary, multi-pronged

approaches that straddle the divide between clinical and laboratory

research in stem cell biology. In trying to address intractable and

challenging issues that face the field, inStem seeks to rewrite the

paradigm of the research institute: without barriers and across

disciplines. An autonomous institute funded by the Department of

Biotechnology, Government of India, inStem emphasises global

collaborations in its make-up with several international faculty

members, students and scientists and with its connections to

laboratories and institutions from Stanford, iCeMS (Institute for

Integrated Cell-Material Sciences), Cambridge University, IFOM (the

FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology), the MacLaughlin Research

Institute, and CIRM (California Institute of Regenerative Medicine,

USA).

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IFOM, the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, is an Italian highly

technological, non-profit research centre supported by FIRC, the

Italian Foundation for Cancer Research. Research conducted at

IFOM aims to understand the molecular processes responsible for

the onset and development of cancer. To meet the demands of

modern-day science, IFOM created a research environment where

scientists from the major national scientific institutions in the Milan

area could collaborate and pool their organisational, economical and

cultural resources. The creation of a research institute “network” was

the first of its kind in Italy and has made IFOM an internationally

competitive research centre in molecular oncology and functional

genomics.

IFOM has been recognised as a Centre of Excellence for Research

by the Lombardy Regional Council, which also contributed to IFOM’s

development. Having established a solid base in basic research,

IFOM is now concentrating its efforts on translational research for

the rapid transfer of scientific findings from the laboratory to

diagnostic and therapeutic clinical practice. IFOM has adopted a

strong international approach, fostering partnerships with world-class

research institutes in Singapore and India. Thanks to these

agreements, IFOM is becoming an important player in the global

landscape of cancer research institutions.

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Program

Venue: Dasheri Auditorium

Session 1Regulation of Tissue Homeostasis

Chair: Tina Mukherjee, inStem

09:40 – 10:10

Dasaradhi Palakodeti, inStem

SMED-PABPC2, a RNA Binding Protein is Essential for

Epidermal Homeostasis and Regeneration

10:10 – 10:40

Mahendra Sonawane, TIFR, Mumbai, India

Cell Size, Cell Adhesion and Tissue Homeostasis: Insights from

Zebrafish Epidermis

10:40 – 11:10Colin Jamora, inStem

Epigenetic Regulation of Wound Healing

11:10 – 11:30Short talk: Saloni Sinha, JNCASR, Bangalore, India

Loss of Asrij Induces Blood Cell Disorders in Mice

11:30 – 13:00 Poster session (SLC Colonnade)

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

08:30 – 09:30Registration (Dasheri Auditorium)

Poster set-up (SLC Colonnade)

09:30 – 09:40 Welcome address – Apurva Sarin, Dean, inStem

Session 2Molecular mechanisms of aging and regeneration

Chair: Jyotsna Dhawan, CCMB, Hyderabad

14:00 – 14:30Shravanti Rampalli, inStem

Epigenetic Regulation of Somatic Stem Cell Plasticity

14:30 – 14:50

Short talk: C. Justin David, Kerala University of Fisheries &

Ocean Studies, India

Selective Expression of Clock Genes in Hepatocytes of Obese

Zebrafish

14:50 – 15:20

Cagatay Gunes, FLI -Leibniz-Institute for Age Research,

Germany

Telomerase Sensitizes Mammalian Cells to Aneuploidy-induced

Transformation by Alleviating Telomere Replication Stress

15:20 – 15:50Pavan Puvvula, Weis Center For Research, Geisinger Clinic

Regulation of Cellular Senescence by lncRNAs

15:50 – 16:20 Afternoon Break (NCBS Central Lawn)

Day 1 – Wednesday, February 3, 2016

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Session 3Inflammation I: Effect on Tissues and Disease

Chair: Sunil Laxman, inStem

16:20 – 16:50

Nadia Mercader, CNIC, Madrid, Spain

Characterization of Novel Subtypes of Inflammatory Cells during

Zebrafish fin and Heart Regeneration

16:50 – 17:10Short talk: M. Suvarsha Rao, CCMB, Hyderabad

Roles of Individual Chains of clusterin in Modulating Atherosclerosis

17:10 – 17:40

Srikala Raghavan, inStem

Breaking Barriers: Role of Integrins in Epithelial Homeostasis and

Sterile Inflammation

17:40 – 18:00

Short talk: Manjunath Joshi, School of Life Sciences, Manipal

University, India

Context Dependent Intricate Interplay between Metabolic and

Inflammatory Pathways in Diabetes: Influence on Neutrophil

(dys)function.

18:00 – 20:00 Reception and Dinner (inStem Dining Facility)

Day 2 – Thursday, February 4, 2016

Session 4Inflammation II: Regulation of Inflammatory Signals

Chair: Apurva Sarin, inStem

9:00 – 9:30

Soumen Basak, NII, Delhi

The NFkB System Integrates Microenvironmental lymphotoxin Signal

to Modulate the Inflammatory Response in the Intestinal Niche

9:30 – 10:00

Guido Franzoso, Imperial College, London, UK

Cancer-selective Targeting of the NF-kB Pathway with

GADD45beta/MKK7 Inhibitors.

10:00 – 10:20

Short talk: Pradip Nair, Biocon Research Limited, Bangalore, India

CD6 Domain 1 Specific Monoclonal Antibody Immunomodulates T-

cells Preventing the Activation and Differentiation to Th17 cells

10:20 – 10:50

Vishva Dixit, Genentech, San Francisco, USA

Gasdermin-D Mediates LPS-induced Non-Canonical Inflammasome

Signaling Downstream of Caspase-11

10:50 – 11:10 Morning Break (NCBS Central Lawn)

Session 5Vascular Biology and Disease

Chair: Maneesha Inamdar, JNCASR, Bangalore

11:10 – 11:40

Joyce Bischoff, Harvard University, Boston, USA

Blood Vessel Assembly from Vascular Progenitor Cells in Infantile

Hemangioma

11:40 – 12:10Lena Claesson-Welsh, Uppsala University, Sweden

Vessel Formation and Function: Regulation by VEGF Signaling

12:10 – 12:40

Rekha Samuel, CMC-Vellore, India

Placental Pericyte and Endothelial Cell Cross-talk in Gestational

Diabetes Mellitus

12:40 – 13:10

Elisabetta Dejana, IFOM, Milan

Modulation of the Blood Brain Barrier Permeability in Cancer and

other Diseases

13:10 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:00 Poster session (SLC Colonnade)

Session 6Cellular Homeostasis and Plasticity

Chair: Minhaj Sirajuddin, inStem

15:00 – 15:30Francesco Cecconi, (DCSRC), Copenhagen

Autophagy at the Verge between Stemness and Differentiation

15:30 – 16:00Giorgio Scita, IFOM, Milan

Endocytic Control of Cellular Plasticity and Mechanics

16:00 – 16:20

Short talk:

Kritarth Singh, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India

NLRX1 Regulates TNF-α Mediated Mitochondrial Turnover by

Modulating Lysosomal Function

16:20 – 16:50

Maithreyi Narasimha, TIFR, Mumbai, India

Stochastic Fluctuations in Cell Signaling and their Influence on Cell

Behavior, Multicellular Sensing and Spatial Patterning in a

Drosophila Epithelium

16:50 – 17:20 Afternoon Break (NCBS Central Lawn)

Session 7 Cell Migration and Metastasis

Chair: Akash Gulyani, inStem

17:20 – 17:50

Sorab Dalal, ACTREC, Mumbai, India

Plakophilin3 Functions Required for Tumor Progression and

Metastasis

17:50 – 18:10

Short talk:

Shruti Chowdhari, CSIR-IGIB, Delhi

miR-4516 Regulates Keratinocyte Migration

18:10 – 18:40Sara Courtneidge, Oregon Health & Science Univ, Portland, USA

Invadopodia and Podosomes in Cell Migration and Invasion

18:40 – 19:00

Short talk:

Silvia Campello, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

Mitochondrial Dynamics Regulate Thymocyte Migration and Impact

on T Cell Development

19:00 – 20:30 Dinner (inStem Dining Facility)

Day 3 - Friday, February 5, 2016

Session 8 Stem/Progenitor Cells in an Inflammatory Microenvironment

Chair: Ramkumar Sambasivan, inStem

9:30 – 10:00

Pier Paolo Di Fiore, IFOM, Milan

Connecting the Machineries of Cell Fate Determination and Tumor

Suppression in Mammary Stem Cells

10:00 – 10:30Anna Dimberg, Uppsala University, Sweden

Vascular abnormalization in Glioblastoma

10:30 – 11:00

Sanjeev Waghmare, ACTREC, Mumbai, India

Secretory Phospholipase A2 IIA Overexpression in Mice Depletes

Hair Follicle Stem Cells and Induces Differentiation

11:00 – 11:30Birgit Lane, Institute of Medical Biology, IMB A-STAR, Singapore

Working towards a Therapeutic Strategy for Genetic Skin Fragility

11:30 – 11:40 Closing remarks

11:40 – 13:00 Lunch (inStem Dining Facility)

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Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

National Centre for Biological SciencesBangalore, India