Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2016
Volume 61, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 14–18, 2016; Baltimore, Maryland
Session V55: DNA Physics and Chromatin OrganizationInvited
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Sponsoring Units: DBIO GSNP DPOLY Chair: Alexandre V. Morozov, Rutgers University Room: Hilton Baltimore Holiday Ballroom 6 |
Thursday, March 17, 2016 2:30PM - 3:06PM |
V55.00001: Micromechanical study of protein-DNA interactions and chromosomes Invited Speaker: John Marko I will discuss micromechanics experiments that our group has used to analyze protein-DNA interactions and chromosome organization. In single-DNA experiments we have found that a feature of protein-DNA complexes is that their dissociation rates can depend strikingly on bulk solution concentrations of other proteins and DNA segments; I will describe experiments which demonstrate this effect, which can involve tens-fold changes in off-rates with submicromolar changes in solution concentrations. Second, I will discuss experiments aimed at analyzing large-scale human chromosome structure; we isolate metaphase chromosomes, which in their native form behave as remarkably elastic networks of chromatin. Exposure to DNA-cutting restriction enzymes completely eliminates this elasticity, indicating that there is not a mechanically contiguous protein "scaffold" from which the chromosome gains its stability. I will show results of siRNA experiments indicating that depletion of condensin proteins leads to destabilization of chromosome mechanics, indicating condensin's role as the major chromatin "cross-linker" in metaphase chromosomes. Finally I will discuss similar experiments on human G1 nuclei, where we use genetic and chemical modifications to separate the contributions of the nuclear lamina and chromatin to the mechanical stiffness of the nucleus as a whole. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 17, 2016 3:06PM - 3:42PM |
V55.00002: Polymer models of chromosome (re)organization Invited Speaker: Leonid Mirny Chromosome Conformation Capture technique (Hi-C) provides comprehensive information about frequencies of spatial interactions between genomic loci. Inferring 3D organization of chromosomes from these data is a challenging biophysical problem. We develop a top-down approach to biophysical modeling of chromosomes. Starting with a minimal set of biologically motivated interactions we build ensembles of polymer conformations that can reproduce major features observed in Hi-C experiments. I will present our work on modeling organization of human metaphase and interphase chromosomes. Our works suggests that active processes of loop extrusion can be a universal mechanism responsible for formation of domains in interphase and chromosome compaction in metaphase. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 17, 2016 3:42PM - 4:18PM |
V55.00003: Action at a Distance in the Cell's Nucleus Invited Speaker: Jane Kondev Various functions performed by chromosomes involve long-range communication between DNA sequences that are tens of thousands of bases apart along the genome, and microns apart in the nucleus. In this talk I will discuss experiments and theory relating to two distinct modes of long-range communication in the nucleus, chromosome looping and protein hopping along the chromosome, both in the context of DNA-break repair in yeast. Yeast is an excellent model system for studies that link chromosome conformations to their function as there is ample experimental evidence that yeast chromosome conformations are well described by a simple, random-walk polymer model. Using a combination of polymer physics theory and experiments on yeast cells, I will demonstrate that loss of polymer entropy due to chromosome looping is the driving force for homology search during repair of broken DNA by homologous recombination. I will also discuss the spread of histone modifications along the chromosome and away from the DNA break point in the context of simple physics models based on chromosome looping and kinase hopping, and show how combining physics theory and cell-biology experiment can be used to dissect the molecular mechanism of the spreading process. These examples demonstrate how combined theoretical and experimental studies can reveal physical principles of long-range communication in the nucleus, which play important roles in regulation of gene expression, DNA recombination, and chromatin modification. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 17, 2016 4:18PM - 4:54PM |
V55.00004: How, when, and where in pattern formation: Spying on embryonic development one molecule at a time. Invited Speaker: Hernan Garcia An abiding mystery in the study of living matter is how a single cell develops into a multicellular organism. As this cell divides, its progeny read the program encoded on their DNA and adopt different fates becoming familiar cell types such as those found in muscle, liver and our brains. We now know that the decisions that cells make during development are not so much based on which genes to express, but rather on when, where and how to express them. Despite advances in determining the identities of the molecules that mediate these decisions we are still incapable of predicting how simple physical parameters such as the number, position and affinity of binding sites for these molecules on the DNA determine developmental fates. Using the fruit fly, one of the classic model systems for embryonic development, I will show how a combination of new technologies, quantitative experiments, and statistical mechanics is providing new insights about cellular decision making during development. In particular, I will describe how the specification of macroscopic body parts in an organism is linked to the non-equilibrium molecular-scale processes inside single cells. The goal of this interdisciplinary research is to produce a predictive understanding of developmental programs which will enable the rational control of biological size, shape and function. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 17, 2016 4:54PM - 5:30PM |
V55.00005: Energy Landscapes of Folding Chromosomes Invited Speaker: Bin Zhang The genome, the blueprint of life, contains nearly all the information needed to build and maintain an entire organism. A comprehensive understanding of the genome is of paramount interest to human health and will advance progress in many areas, including life sciences, medicine, and biotechnology. The overarching goal of my research is to understand the structure-dynamics-function relationships of the human genome. In this talk, I will be presenting our efforts in moving towards that goal, with a particular emphasis on studying the three-dimensional organization, the structure of the genome with multi-scale approaches. Specifically, I will discuss the reconstruction of genome structures at both interphase and metaphase by making use of data from chromosome conformation capture experiments. Computationally modeling of chromatin fiber at atomistic level from first principles will also be presented as our effort for studying the genome structure from bottom up. [Preview Abstract] |
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