Multiscale Modeling of Chromosomal DNA and the Physical Processes Underlying Epigenetic Regulation

Seminar | April 28 | 2-3 p.m. | 277 Cory Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Prof. Andrew J. Spakowitz, Stanford University, ChemE / MSE / Applied Physics

Sponsor:  Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute

Historically, the central dogma of genetics asserted that DNA sequence holds all of the information that orchestrates cellular function. However, protein and DNA modifications play a pivotal role in regulating the expression of the genome and in establishing cell identity. In other words, two organisms with identical genetic information may have vastly different behavior due to chemical modifications in their genome packaging.

This notion of epigenetic regulation represents a paradigm change in how we think about genetic traits. Aberrations in epigenetic markers lead directly to a range of diseases, including various cancers, developmental disorders, obesity, and diabetes. Research in our lab focuses on biological processes involving DNA to establish a predictive theoretical model that offers new and critical insight into the role of physical mechanisms involved in epigenetic regulation.

In this talk, we present a multi-scale approach to modeling the segregation of chromosomal DNA into condensed regions called heterochromatin. This effort leverages our field-theoretic model for predicting copolymer morphology, resulting in a framework that can translate epigenetic modifications at a single nucleosome to genome-scale segregation. We will demonstrate the impact of epigenetic modifications on chromosomal organization, and we will discuss how chromosomal organization serves as a template for re-establishing the epigenetic code over multiple cell cycles.
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Event Contact:  victorr@eecs.berkeley.edu, 510-643-6681

Access Coordinator:  Avi Rosenzweig,  victorr@eecs.berkeley.edu,  510-643-6681