Biological physics of protein clustering in epigenetic memory and transcriptional control
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Mark Leake (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Leake MC
(2022)
A Next Generation of Advances in Chromosome Architecture.
in Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Miller HL
(2020)
Biophysical characterisation of DNA origami nanostructures reveals inaccessibility to intercalation binding sites.
in Nanotechnology
Payne-Dwyer AL
(2022)
Single-Molecular Quantification of Flowering Control Proteins Within Nuclear Condensates in Live Whole Arabidopsis Root.
in Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Payne-Dwyer AL
(2022)
RecA and RecB: probing complexes of DNA repair proteins with mitomycin C in live Escherichia coli with single-molecule sensitivity.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Schnitzer B
(2022)
The effect of stress on biophysical characteristics of misfolded protein aggregates in living Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells.
in Experimental gerontology
Shashkova S
(2021)
Correlating single-molecule characteristics of the yeast aquaglyceroporin Fps1 with environmental perturbations directly in living cells.
in Methods (San Diego, Calif.)
Description | We developed a new type of light microscopy to allow us to track key proteins in root tips that are involved in regulating whether or not plants flower (a process called vernalization). We have found clear evidence that two of these proteins called Vin3 and Vrn5 operate in clusters of typically 5-20 molecules. This ties in really well with theory modeling that suggested that a "memory" effect for this type of flowering regulation must be due to their being multiple copies of the memory elements. These findings may tell us how general gene memory modifications (so called "epigenetics") are regulated in multiple different organisms, including increasing our understanding of the onset of human diseases such as cancer. |
Exploitation Route | This work will offer new insights into researchers studying how genes are regulated in living cell. It will also inform researchers who wish to understand how genetic disease start, and how they might be prevented. |
Sectors | Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
URL | https://sites.google.com/a/york.ac.uk/mark-leake-group/home |