Nuclear Lamin Biology

Nuclear-Interior Phosphorylated Lamins

Nuclear lamins polymerize to form the nuclear lamina, a protein meshwork underlying the nuclear membrane. The nuclear lamina binds megabase-wide transcriptionally inactive heterochromatin domains. This project explores a new hypothesis that phosphorylated nuclear lamins localized in the nuclear interior act as transcription activators, contrary to the prevailing view that nuclear lamins are heterochromatin-binding proteins.

The Structural Organization of Chromosomes by the Nuclear Lamina

The nuclear lamina binds heterochromatin domains called lamina-associated domains. By doing so, the nuclear lamina is thought to contribute to the spatial organization of chromosomes within the nucleus. This project uses a cell engineering approach to modulate nuclear lamin protein levels rapidly to discern the requirement of nuclear lamins for organization of chromosomes.