BIO SEMINAR:Biochemical and functional interrogation of.....

Guest:Dr.Aktan Alpsoy

Title: Biochemical and functional interrogation of transcriptional regulators in health and disease

Date/Time: May 6, 2024 13:40 Online

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https://sabanciuniv.zoom.us/j/96901143248?pwd=QnhhbytrREM0YjhlMXkrV1JRbjNWUT09

Meeting ID: 969 0114 3248
Passcode: 251842

Abstract:In higher order organisms, DNA is assembled into a protein-dense structure called chromatin. Chromatin protects DNA from physical and chemical insults and enables it to fit into the limited space of nucleus. On the other hand, the keyDNA-templated processes including replication and transcription require direct contact between trans-acting factors and DNA, necessitating tightly controlled alterations over the chromatin structure. 

Chromatin remodeling enzymes are crucial factors for this dynamic regulation. These molecular machines adjust the accessibility of DNA, thereby creating permissive or restricted local chromatin environment for other factors. Among different families of chromatin remodelers, multisubunit SWI/SNF (BAF) complexes attract particular attention due to their high compositional diversity, high mutation rates in human malignancies as well as their indispensable roles in tissue- and developmental stage-specific transcriptional programs. While extensive characterization has been conducted on this complex, the differential activities of heterologous SWI/SNF complexes; their partnership with the other transcriptional regulators and their direct impacts on cellular differentiation, malignant transformation and tumor evolution have been incompletely understood. 

In this seminar I will briefly discuss the major findings of my doctoral work on the discovery of a new type of SWI/SNF complex. Next, I will share my postdoctoral research on the structure-function analyses of a set of transcription factor-coactivator pairs. In the final section, I will describe my research plans as an independent researcher.

Bio:Aktan was born and raised in Ankara. After completing his undergraduate and Master’s educations at Middle East Technical University, he moved to Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN, USA) to do his PhD in Interdisciplinary Life Science Program. There he worked under supervision of Prof. Emily Dykhuizen on mammalian SWI/SNF complexes. After PhD, he started his postdoctoral training with Prof. Christopher Vakoc at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA). At CSHL, he worked at the interface of functional genomics, biochemistry, and structural biology to unravel molecular underpinnings of the transcription factor–cofactor interactions. Since October 2023, he has been working at the Institute of Cancer Research (London, UK) as a postdoctoral researcher in Kristian Helin’s Epigenetics and Cancer Group.