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Mar - Martha Bulyk

Speaker: Martha Bulyk

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Talk Title: Transcription factor – DNA interactions: cis regulatory codes in the genome

Event Details

Date/Time:

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 6:00 pm

Affiliation: Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Harvard Medical School

URL: Martha Bulyk

Abstract:

The interactions between sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) and their DNA binding sites are an integral part of the gene regulatory networks within cells. My group developed highly parallel in vitro microarray technology, termed protein binding microarrays (PBMs), for the characterization of the sequence specificities of DNA-protein interactions at high resolution. Using universal PBMs, we have determined the DNA binding specificities of >500 TFs from a wide range of species. These data have permitted us to identify novel TFs and their DNA binding site motifs, predict the target genes and condition-specific regulatory roles of TFs, predict tissue-specific transcriptional enhancers, investigate functional divergence of paralogous TFs within a TF family, investigate the molecular determinants of TF-DNA ‘recognition’ specificity, and distinguish direct versus indirect TF-DNA interactions in vivo. Further analyses of TFs and cis regulatory elements are likely to reveal features of cis regulatory codes important for driving appropriate gene expression patterns.

Please note:

Trainees are invited to meet with the VanBUG speaker for open discussion

of both science and career paths. This takes place 4:30-5:30pm in either

the Boardroom or Lunchroom on the ground floor of the BCCRC

Recommended Readings

Compact, universal DNA microarrays to comprehensively determine transcription-factor binding site specificities.


Introductory Speaker: Yvonne Li, PhD Candidate, Jones Lab, Genome Sciences Centre, BCCRC

Title: A large-scale computational approach to finding new uses for existing drugs