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Eye development in animals is orchestrated by a network of master regulator genes capable of reprogramming cell fate and even inducing ectopic eyes when misexpressed. In my talk, I will discuss our work on a co-activator of transcription, which is crucial for eye development. We find that this co-activator forms liquid-like nuclear condensates, which can specifically recruit several transcription factors and a kinase, all crucial for eye development, and contain other proteins of transcription machinery and target RNAs, suggesting these condensates as possible spatial transcription zones or hubs. We further find the region needed for condensate formation and this same region is also needed for transcription co-activation and eye development. We further show that altering the material properties of the condensate using a homologous disease-associated mutation also reduces the co-activation capacity. Together, our findings uncover a mechanistic link between condensates, transcriptional regulation, development, and disease.
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