Roberto Bonasio, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Biography:
Roberto Bonasio grew up in Northen Italy, studied at the University of Milan, and received his Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard in 2006. He obtained further postodctoral training at NYU in the laboratory of Danny Reinberg, studying chromatin biochemistry and functional genomics. At NYU, Roberto studied the function of noncoding that RNAs that interact with epigenetic regulators in embryonic stem cells. He also led an international team that sequenced and analyzed the first ant genomes and methylomes, laying the foundations for using social ants as a model system to study the epigenetics of behavior. In 2014, Roberto joined the Epigenetics Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where his laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of epigenetics in mammalian stem cells and neuron as well as various emerging model organisms, such as ants and planarians.
Abstract:
Although selective synaptic remodeling within neural circuits is widely accepted as the molecular substrate for storage of memories in the brain—the so called “engram”—some observations in model organisms suggest that some memories and behaviors can be encoded and epigenetically transmitted across generations, suggesting that acquired neural states can propagate to molecular species outside the nervous system. Such findings have often been accompanied by heavy skepticism, arguably because the precise molecular species encoding the memories have not been identified and the pathways responsible for their biogenesis, movement, and function in the nervous system are not known. Evidence for an epigenetic engram emerged first in the middle of the 20th century through experiments in planarians, famous for their remarkable abilities to regenerate their entire body, including the brain. It was shown that after decapitation and full brain regeneration, planarians retained some associative memories, possibly through RNA. The mechanistic insight of these early studies was limited by the lack of molecular genetic tools to characterize the phenomenon and precisely manipulate the animals. In the intervening years, the field of planarian regeneration has experienced a molecular and genomic renaissance thanks to concerted efforts to establish the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a molecular model system. We have developed new behavioral paradigms in S. mediterranea and obtained preliminary evidence that seems to confirm the original observations that associative memories are retained even after decapitation and complete brain regeneration. We are now investigating the potential molecular substrate and pathways that allow for these “epigenetic memories” to be installed in a newly regenerated brain with a particular focus on extracellular noncoding RNAs. Trans-regenerational memory in planarians might share common molecular mechanisms with transgenerational inheritance of acquired behaviors in other organisms, a controversial idea supported by some experimental observations, but no known molecular mechanism. Therefore, our studies in planarians might foster a deeper understanding of neuroepigenetics in animals with more complex brains, including humans.
Roberto Bonasio grew up in Northen Italy, studied at the University of Milan, and received his Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard in 2006. He obtained further postodctoral training at NYU in the laboratory of Danny Reinberg, studying chromatin biochemistry and functional genomics. At NYU, Roberto studied the function of noncoding that RNAs that interact with epigenetic regulators in embryonic stem cells. He also led an international team that sequenced and analyzed the first ant genomes and methylomes, laying the foundations for using social ants as a model system to study the epigenetics of behavior. In 2014, Roberto joined the Epigenetics Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where his laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of epigenetics in mammalian stem cells and neuron as well as various emerging model organisms, such as ants and planarians.
Abstract:
Although selective synaptic remodeling within neural circuits is widely accepted as the molecular substrate for storage of memories in the brain—the so called “engram”—some observations in model organisms suggest that some memories and behaviors can be encoded and epigenetically transmitted across generations, suggesting that acquired neural states can propagate to molecular species outside the nervous system. Such findings have often been accompanied by heavy skepticism, arguably because the precise molecular species encoding the memories have not been identified and the pathways responsible for their biogenesis, movement, and function in the nervous system are not known. Evidence for an epigenetic engram emerged first in the middle of the 20th century through experiments in planarians, famous for their remarkable abilities to regenerate their entire body, including the brain. It was shown that after decapitation and full brain regeneration, planarians retained some associative memories, possibly through RNA. The mechanistic insight of these early studies was limited by the lack of molecular genetic tools to characterize the phenomenon and precisely manipulate the animals. In the intervening years, the field of planarian regeneration has experienced a molecular and genomic renaissance thanks to concerted efforts to establish the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a molecular model system. We have developed new behavioral paradigms in S. mediterranea and obtained preliminary evidence that seems to confirm the original observations that associative memories are retained even after decapitation and complete brain regeneration. We are now investigating the potential molecular substrate and pathways that allow for these “epigenetic memories” to be installed in a newly regenerated brain with a particular focus on extracellular noncoding RNAs. Trans-regenerational memory in planarians might share common molecular mechanisms with transgenerational inheritance of acquired behaviors in other organisms, a controversial idea supported by some experimental observations, but no known molecular mechanism. Therefore, our studies in planarians might foster a deeper understanding of neuroepigenetics in animals with more complex brains, including humans.
