AEP Faculty Candidate Seminar: Aakash Basu
Description
“DNA CAN STORE GENETIC INFORMATION IN ITS PHYSICAL PROPERTIES”
Dr. Aakash Basu
Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
Mechanical deformations of DNA occur ubiquitously in biology in the context of almost all DNA:protein interactions. The physical properties of DNA such as bending and torsional rigidity can regulate such critical interactions by determining the energetic penalties associated with locally deforming DNA. Although the average physical properties of DNA have been well-characterized, the vast sizes of genomes have precluded measuring the extent to which these properties vary with sequence along entire genomes. We solved this problem by combining DNA cyclization with deep sequencing and found that to a significant extent, local physical properties of DNA can be genetically encoded in sequence. Our results suggest that sequence-dependent local DNA bendability variations genome-wide help arrange nucleosomes from promoters to deep within gene bodies, regulate molecular motors such as nucleosome remodelers and RNA polymerases, impact other classes of DNA:protein interactions, and have been specifically selected for by evolution. Further, we show that methylation of DNA bases can alter the manner in which sequence modulates DNA bendability, suggesting that DNA mechanics and its biological impact can be controlled by dynamic processes or diseases that alter the epigenetic landscape. Overall, our results suggest that DNA can store genetic information, with broad regulatory impact, in the complex nature of its physical properties.
Meeting ID: 926 8096 7513
Passcode: 182290
