Description:

Title:

Transcriptional Regulation Through Reorganization of Host Chromatin by Human Cytomegalovirus

Speaker:

Celeste Rosencrance, DGP Progam Graduate Student, Lab of Dr. Derek Walsh

Topic:

Investigation of structure-function relationships drive discovery in all aspects of biology; however, the link between nuclear shape and cellular processes in this adaptable, membrane-bound organelle is not well understood. The genetic information that controls cell function is contained and organized within the nucleus, thus changes in nuclear morphology may affect cell behavior. The nucleus can be shaped by disease, viral infection, and cell migration, yet how these nuclear deformations contribute to transcriptional changes remains a crucial area of research. Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) exerts cytoplasmic control on the host nucleus in mid-to-late stages of infection that results in nuclear rotation, polarization of nuclear membrane proteins and repressive chromatin, as well as spatial arrangement of both viral and host genomic material. While polarization may allow viral DNA to replicate in a permissive nuclear compartment, the effect of host DNA polarity and subsequent transcriptional regulation represents an underappreciated feature of HCMV control over host processes. My research focuses on the relationship between HCMV-induced nuclear polarization, altered chromatin structure, and host transcription to support viral infection and spread.

Host: Derek Walsh, Professor, Dept. of Microbiology-Immunology