Camille Berthelot, Pasteur Institute,Paris
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Le 06 September 2024Amphi DEfalse false
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11h30
Functional evolution of the primate uterus
Functional evolution of the primate uterus
Camille BERTHELOT, PhD, Research Director, Group Leader
Pasteur Institute, Paris
Abstract
The uterus is the perennial support organ of internal pregnancy, one of the most important evolutionary innovations of placental mammals. In humans, the endometrium grows about five-fold in thickness during the cycle, becomes receptive to an embryo, and then breaks down and sloughs away during menstruation followed by rapid regeneration if embryo implantation has not occurred. This remodelling process is unique to the uterus and proceeds through entirely different mechanisms from the cellular turnover of other organs such as skin or gut. Menstruation is a recent evolutionary innovation in primates: the trait is present in some species (humans, baboons) but not in closely related others (marmoset, saimiri). The molecular and genetic underpinnings of this complex process are not fully understood, despite its critical involvement in gynaecological conditions. Here, I will present our recent work to characterize the gene networks and non-coding regulatory elements that control the advent of menstruation in primates, and to understand how this genetically inherited trait was acquired in primate genomes during the evolution of the human lineage.
Biography
Camille Berthelot is a research director at INSERM and the Institut Pasteur, where she heads the Comparative Functional Genomics group. She is interested in the modes of evolution leading to the acquisition of new traits of evolutionary interest, particularly when these result from changes in gene expression, and in the new pathologies that emerge in conjunction with these new functions. Her recent work focuses on the evolution of the uterus in primates, and in particular on menstruation, a trait that has recently appeared in our evolutionary history.
