Feng Yue, Ph.D. – VAI Seminar Series

Epigenetic and 3D genome alteration in cancer

Speaker Information

Feng Yue, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine – Center for Advanced Molecular Analysis
Duane and Susan Burnham Professor of Molecular Medicine
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Pathology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

• Abstract: The two-meter-long DNAs need to be folded accurately inside the nucleus for proper cell function, and alteration of chromatin folding has been associated with different types of human diseases. In this seminar, I will introduce our latest work in the study of 3D genome organization in cancer. We charted the first genome-wide chromatin interaction landscape in multiple cancer types, including bladder cancer, pediatric brain tumor, and acute myeloid leukemia. We demonstrated that different cancer types and subtypes have unique chromatin loops, connecting distal regulatory elements (such as enhancers and silencers) to essential cancer genes. Furthermore, our group was among the first to demonstrate that structural variants (SVs) can juxtapose enhancers from their original position to another part of the genome and activate the wrong target gene (enhancer-hijacking). Our work suggests that enhancer hijacking is a novel regulation mechanism in human diseases and is prevalent in almost all cancers. Finally, we discovered that the epigenetic drug treatment could change genome folding and reverse the cancer-specific chromatin loops, suggesting that 3D genome could serve as potential drug-targets for personalized therapy.
• Host: Hui Shen, Ph.D.