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IMAGE: Co-authors on the oncohistone research and postdocs in Princeton s Muir Lab, John Bagert and Michelle Mitchener. view more
Credit: Photo by C. Todd Reichart
Researchers in the Muir Lab at Princeton University s Department of Chemistry have completed the first comprehensive analysis of cancer-associated histone mutations in the human genome, featuring both biochemical and cellular characterizations of these substrates. Their study reports that histone mutations that perturb nucleosome remodeling may contribute to the development or progression of a wide range of human cancers.
Within the human genome, DNA is wrapped around disc-shaped structures made up of eight histone proteins, each forming nucleosomes. Repeating nucleosome units comprise chromatin, a storehouse of genetic information that is both structured and dynamic. Broadly, the Muir Lab seeks to understand how chromatin controls genetic processes in the cell and how disruption of these processes