Motoki Takaku
University of North Dakota, ND·Genetics
Inside human cells, DNA is wrapped around spool-like histone proteins to form nucleosomes, which pack together into chromatin. This packing can block transcription factors, the proteins that switch genes on by binding short DNA sequences.
- Fields
Genetics
Biochemistry
Biology
- Topics
pioneer factors
nucleosome positioning
chromatin accessibility
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Identify the nucleosome positions and shapes that let the pioneer factor GATA3 open chromatin and drive the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in triple-negative breast cancer cells, using high-resolution nucleosome mapping.
- Determine the roles of chromatin remodeling enzymes, which slide or evict nucleosomes, during GATA3-induced mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in breast cancer cells.
- Discover the minimum chromatin components GATA3 requires to form new enhancers, the DNA regions that boost gene activation, and map GATA3 binding with transcription factor footprinting.
More about the research
The genome contains millions of such sequences, so how do transcription factors find the right sites and open tightly packed chromatin? Pioneer factors are a special class that can bind nucleosomes in closed, inactive chromatin and open it up. They drive cellular reprogramming, when cells switch identity, and their misregulation is linked to diseases including cancer.
Why it matters
Chromatin misorganization contributes to many human diseases, including cancer. Learning how the pioneer factor GATA3 reshapes chromatin in triple-negative breast cancer cells could clarify how transcription factors reprogram cell identity. That knowledge could inform future work on diseases where pioneer factors are misregulated.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael Joseph Buck
University at Buffalo, NY·Genetics
Determine how transcription factors recognize binding sites wrapped on a nucleosome, the DNA spool unit, using the in vitro Pioneer-seq assay to compare sites at every nucleosome position and across sequence variants.
Kenneth Zaret
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Genetics
Determine how heterochromatin changes and the movement and clustering of transcription factors guide endoderm cells to become liver, using light-sheet imaging of live mouse embryos with genetic perturbations.
Jia Fei
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Biochemistry
Characterize how NDF loosens nucleosomes, the protein spools that package DNA, and helps RNA Polymerase II move through them, using ultra-high-resolution optical tweezers and cryo-electron microscopy.
The school
University of North Dakota: 5 labs on PI Pages, $197M a year on research, 112 research doctorates a year.
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