Arthur Krieg, CEO at RaNA Therapeutics to speak at 2nd Epigenetics conference May 30-31, 2012 Boston
Arthur M. Krieg, Chief Executive Officer at RaNA Therapeutics will give a presentation on "Selective Induction of Gene Expression by Targeting Long Non-coding RNA" at the 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery Conference taking place on May 30-31, 2012 in Boston, MA.
- (1888PressRelease) March 22, 2012 - Arthur M. Krieg, Chief Executive Officer at RaNA Therapeutics will give a presentation on "Selective Induction of Gene Expression by Targeting Long Non-coding RNA" at the 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery Conference taking place on May 30-31, 2012 in Boston, MA.
Recent studies have revealed that most of the genome is transcribed into non-coding RNA. A major category of this is long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), which in some cases can regulate gene expression in either a cis or trans fashion. One of the mechanisms through which lncRNA regulate gene expression is through recruitment of PRC2. On the X chromosome, PRC2 recruitment to the lncRNA Xist operates in cis to suppress gene expression, resulting in selective X chromosome inactivation. Oligonucleotide complementary to Xist can prevent the binding of PRC2 or other specific epigenetic factors, thereby interfering with X chromosome inactivation.
Arthur Krieg will present evidence that this or a similar mechanism may operate much more generally across the genome to constitutively suppress transcription, and that oligonucleotide inhibitors of lncRNA interactions with epigenetic factors such as PRC2 may selectively de-repress gene expression in vitro and in vivo. The selective induction of gene expression could have dramatic therapeutic benefits in many disease settings.
Art Krieg co-founded RaNA in 2011 with JF Formela of Atlas Venture and Jeannie Lee of MGH and HHMI. He brings RaNA more than 20 years of experience in oligonucleotide research and development, in large pharma, biotech, and academic settings. Prior to RaNA he served as Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer's Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Unit and he was formerly CSO and Executive Vice President Research and Development at Coley Pharmaceutical Group, prior to its acquisition and incorporation into Pfizer in 2008. Dr. Krieg co-founded Coley while a Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa to pursue his 1994 discovery of the immune stimulatory CpG DNA motif, which led to a new approach to immunotherapy and vaccine adjuvants. He left academia and joined Coley full-time in 2001, discovering and taking 4 novel oligonucleotides into clinical development, the most advanced of which is currently in phase 3 human clinical trials.
Dr. Krieg was a founder of the first scientific journal devoted to the field, Oligonucleotides (now named Nucleic Acid Therapeutics), which he edited for 16 years, and he co-founded the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society. He has published more than 240 scientific papers and is co-inventor on 35 issued and more than 100 pending US patents covering oligonucleotide technology.
GTC's 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery conference is the only epigenetics conference that brings together a balanced mix of leading experts from the industry and academia to collaborate on the latest cutting edge research on novel mechanisms, therapeutics, technologies and diagnostics for epigenetics drug discovery. Some key discussions around epigenetics drug discovery at the conference include: 1) The role of epigenetics in human diseases such as cancer, leukaemia, neurodegenerative conditions, neuropsychiatric disorders, inflammation, etc. and 2) Cutting edge research from GlaxoSmithKline, Epizyme, Genentech, Constellation, Cellzome, RaNA Therapeutics, Pfizer, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The conference is part of the Omics Evolution Summit, which includes 6 co-located conferences. A Clinical Sequencing Workshop on May 29th is also offered before the summit. Register for the entire summit and have access to the all of the following conferences:
2nd Genomic & Proteomic Drug Discovery Conference
3rd RNAi Research & Therapeutics Conference
7th Protein Kinases in Drug Discovery Conference
2nd Next Generation Sequencing Conference
Genome-wide Partnering and Deal Making Conference
For more information, please visit www.gtcbio.com
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