Mohammad Nazim
Case Western Reserve University, OH·Neuroscience
To build a brain, cells must turn the right genes on and off at the right time. Several layers of control are involved.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Biochemistry
- Topics
alternative splicing
BAF complex
chromatin remodeling
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Determine how the DPF2 splicing switch from the short to the brain-specific long form shapes neuronal and non-neuronal cell types, using CRISPR-edited embryonic stem cells differentiated into glutamatergic neurons and mice expressing only one form.
- Define the gene-control programs driven by each DPF2 form, by mapping where the BAF chromatin-remodeling complex binds and which chromatin is open at time points from embryonic to adult brain.
- Determine the makeup and modular organization of the smaller DPF2-associated BAF subcomplexes found in older adult brains, and map where they bind on chromatin to learn their role in brain aging.
More about the research
One is how DNA is packaged into chromatin, the DNA-protein complex that decides which genes can be read. Another is how RNA messages are cut and joined, a process called alternative splicing that lets one gene make several protein versions. How these layers work together during brain development is not understood. This matters because many genes mutated in neurodevelopmental disorders control chromatin.
Why it matters
Many neurodevelopmental disorders involve mutations in genes that control chromatin, yet how these mutations cause disease is poorly understood. Learning how splicing of the chromatin regulator DPF2 shapes neuron formation could explain some of these disorders and may eventually point to targeted therapies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Shinya Watanabe
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, MA·Biochemistry
Define the roles of brain- and heart-specific DPF1 and DPF3 in the cBAF remodeling complex by rebuilding cBAF with DPF1, DPF2, DPF3 or no DPF protein and comparing nucleosome binding, sliding and ATPase activity.
Vipul Shukla
Northwestern University, IL·Microbiology & Immunology
Define how the Arid1a-dependent cBAF complex, a DNA-packaging remodeler, controls which genes are accessible and active as germinal center B cells mature, testing whether it establishes the germinal center gene program.
Pin-Xian Xu
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Genetics
Test whether removing Brg1, part of the Brg1-BAF chromatin remodeling complex, from Eya1-expressing inner ear progenitors at different stages closes off enhancers that guide sensory and neuronal fate.
The school
Case Western Reserve University: 34 labs on PI Pages, $643M a year on research, 213 research doctorates a year.
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