Detecting the hierarchical structure of the cell nucleus

Detecting the hierarchical structure of the cell nucleus

Chromatin consists of DNA wrapped around histones and forms complex three-dimensional structures within the cell nucleus with various degrees of compaction.

Genes have been shown to be repressed by their proximity to the nuclear periphery or activated by being in contact with special regulatory regions called enhancers. Thus the relative positioning of genes and their interactions with other regions are very important in determining whether they are expressed or not. Interactions between pairs of genomic regions have been studied using assays such as Hi-C, which generate large matrices estimating interaction frequencies.

We use such interaction estimates as weights in a network whose nodes are equally sized genomic regions and perform nested community detection in order to resolve the relative positioning of genomic regions of interest and model the interior of the cell nucleus.

Our biological model is cellular senescence, a phenotype associated with dramatic changes in its chromatin interactions network relative to normal cells. Senescence corresponds to permanent cell cycle arrest and has been shown to act as a protective barrier against tumourigenesis.

Speaker

Ioana Olan, University of Cambridge

How to attend

If not a member of the Dept. Mathematical Science at the University of Essex, you can register your interest in attending the seminar and request the Zoom’s meeting password by emailing Dr Osama Mahmoud.