The nuclear lamina (NL) is a structural component of the nuclear envelope and makes extensive contacts with integral nuclear membrane proteins and chromatin. These interactions are critical for many cellular processes, such as nuclear positioning, perception of mechanical stimuli from the cell surface, nuclear stability, 3-dimensional organisation of chromatin and regulation of chromatin-binding proteins, including transcription factors. The NL is present in all nucleated metazoan cells but its composition and interactome differ between tissues. Most likely, this contributes to the broad spectrum of disease manifestations in humans with mutations in NL-related genes, ranging from muscle dystrophies to neurological disorders, lipodystrophies and progeria syndromes. In my talk, I will describe how we combine genetics, live imaging and genomics approaches in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the fundamental principles of nuclear organisation during development and ageing. I will also discuss our efforts to model mutations in NL components that are causatively linked to human diseases with the aim of contributing to the discovery of new therapeutic approaches to treat NL-related diseases.

Trabajo presentado en Lecture Series in Molecular Life Sciences, celebrado en Zurich (Suiza) el 14 de junio de 2022.