Wednesday, September 22, 2021

CCMB Seminar: "Quantitative Proteomics for Understanding Cancer Epigenetics"

4:00 PM

Forum Hall, 4th Floor, Palmer Commons Building

Hosted by Hosted by Sriram Chandrasekaran

CCMB Seminar Series – sponsored by DCMB
by Dr. Benjamin A. Garcia (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)

Abstract

Histones are small proteins that package DNA into chromosomes, and a large number of studies have showed that several post-translational modification (PTM) sites on the histones are associated with both gene activation and silencing. Along with DNA and small non-coding RNA, histone PTMs make up epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression patterns outside of DNA sequence mutations. Dysregulation of these chromatin networks underlie several human diseases such as cancer. Here I will give an update on technology advancements that have allowed for high-throughput quantitative analyses of histone PTMs and chromatin structure, and how we are applying these methods to understand epigenetic reprogramming found in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). MPNST is an aggressive sarcoma with recurrent loss of function alterations in polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2), a histone-modifying complex involved in transcriptional silencing.