Tomoko Yamada
Northwestern University, IL·Neuroscience
Every neuron carries the same DNA, yet different neurons switch on different genes and form different connections. One way cells control which genes turn on is by folding chromosomes inside the nucleus.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
genome organization
chromatin architecture
3D genome
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Determine how functional domains of the transcription factor Etv1 couple recruitment of target genes to ME bodies with gene activation during cerebellar granule neuron maturation.
- Test whether subtype-specific transcription factors specify granule neuron subtypes in the front and back lobules of the cerebellum.
- Test whether these transcription factors recruit their target long genes to mega-enhancer bodies (ME bodies), nuclear compartments, in a subtype-specific way.
- Test whether subtype-specific long genes set up distinct circuit connections between cerebellar granule neurons and their postsynaptic partners.
More about the research
This project asks how that folding is organized in developing neurons and how it shapes the wiring of brain circuits. Mutations in nuclear regulators and synaptic proteins, which help neurons connect, are closely tied to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Why it matters
Understanding how chromosome folding controls the genes that wire neurons together could clarify the biology behind neurodevelopmental disorders of cognition. These disorders are closely linked to mutations in both nuclear regulator and synaptic genes. The work may point to how defects in the nucleus lead to faulty brain connections.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
John Edwards
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Neuroscience
Develop a nanopore long-read sequencing method that simultaneously and accurately profiles 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in both CG and non-CG contexts across gene promoters and gene bodies.
Jiang Wu
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Neuroscience
Determine how phosphorylation of BRG1, a chromatin remodeling protein, triggered by neuronal activity primes enhancers of activity-regulated genes by setting up a cohesin-dependent folding of chromosomes in 3D.
The school
Northwestern University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 536 research doctorates a year.
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