연자: Prof. Min Gyu Lee
소속: Univ. of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
연제: Epigenetic Roles of Histone Methylation Modifiers in Cancer and Differentiation
날짜: 2014. 7. 22 (화) 오후 2시
장소: 109호 화상회의실
초록:
Epigenetic regulation is fundamental to tumorigenesis and stem cell characteristics. We have studied the epigenetic roles of chromatin-modifying enzymes and chromatin-binding proteins in stem cell differentiation and cancer events. Specifically, we have focused on characterizing the roles of histone lysine methylation and its reversal process called “demethylation”, both of which play a central role in epigenetic and transcriptional control of gene expression. Our current work is based largely on our previous studies that showed the identification and functional characterization of two novel types of histone demethylases, i.e., UTX (also known as KDM6A) and JARID1d that reverse trimethyl histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) and trimethyl H3K4, respectively. We have been defining the roles of the H3K27 demethylase UTX and its associated H3K4 methyltransferase MLL4 (also called ALR) in stem cell differentiation and have also investigated the antagonizing role of the protein arginine methyltransferases PRMT7 in UTX/MLL4-mediated cellular differentiation. Interestingly, UTX and MLL4 undergo somatic loss-of-function mutations in several types of cancer. For this reason, we have also studied the roles of UTX and MLL4 in tumorigenesis. Finally, we have put our research efforts to understand the previously unidentified roles of the H3K4 demethylase JARID1d and the H3K36 demethylase KDM2A in cancer-epigenetic processes.