Adventures in the chromatin jungle: how to package and read your DNA
By Karolin Luger , University of Colorado
Hosted by Prof. Wolfgang Fischle, KAUST
Monday, May 11, 2020
4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Zoom
Abstract:
The organization of all genomic DNA into tightly wrapped nucleoprotein complexes called nucleosomes profoundly affects all DNA-dependent processes. Nucleosomes regulate access to the information stored in the DNA and thus determine every cell’s identity and function (gene transcription), they impact the faithful duplication of the entire genome during cell division (DNA replication), and profoundly affect the cell’s efforts to repair damaging and disease-causing mutations (DNA repair). Over the past 25 years, my lab has been interested in the molecular details of DNA organization in the nucleus. We are investigating the structure of chromatin and interacting factors and study the mechanics of the elaborate and complicated machinery that allows gene transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair in the context of nucleosomes. More recently, we have begun to address the intriguing question of the evolutionary origin of DNA packaging principles, which must have been a very early and essential acquisition of a hypothetical common eukaryotic ancestor.
We use crystallography and cryo-EM to determine high-resolution structures of relevant complexes, paired with sophisticated mechanistic studies to catch them in the act of doing their job. I will give a brief overview of my ‘adventures in the chromatin jungle’, and highlight the trials, tribulations, and rewards of chromatin structural biology. I will then present recent data from my lab that highlight the beauty and intricate workings of ancient and modern nucleosomes and of the machinery that acts upon them.
Bio:
Karolin Luger is a biochemist and structural biologist recognized for her work on chromatin structure and function. She was a key player in efforts to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of the nucleosome, the basic repeating unit in chromatin. Her more recent work focuses on how nucleosomes are recognized and assembled, and on the evolutionary origin of DNA organization. The lab uses a wide range of approaches to gain insight into the structure and mechanism of chromatin and chromatin-associated proteins. Luger was born in Austria and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She obtained her Ph.D. thesis in protein engineering and biophysics at the Biocenter in Basel, then moved to a postdoc at the ETH Zuerich in 1990. She started her independent career at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where she continued her work on nucleosome and chromatin structure as well as being engaged in teaching at the undergraduate level. In 2015, she moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she holds the Jennie Smoly endowed chair for Biochemistry. Luger is also an Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is a fellow of the Biophysical Society, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, of the National Academy of Science, and of EMBO.
