Chromatin Structure, Remodeling and Gene Expression
DNA in organisms from yeast to man is packaged in a nucleoprotein complex called chromatin. Chromatin protects genomes from damage during chromosome segregation and is the substance encoding genetic and epigenetic traits. Transformation of chromatin structure plays a leading role in the regulation of gene expression. Knowledge of chromatin at the molecular level is essential for our understanding of the vital processes of DNA replication, transcription, recombination and repair, and the pathological progression of cancer and viral disease.
My lab investigated the molecular structure of chromatin. We focused on the three-dimensional arrangement of nucleosomes, the fundamental repeating unit of chromatin, both on their own and in combination with chromatin-associated macromolecular complexes. We were particularly interested in the study of chromatin remodeling and modification factors in the context of nucleosomes. Our principal tools were X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, biochemical analysis, and our protein expression system, Multibac.
