Laboratory of Genetics |
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Weidong Wang, Ph.D., Senior Investigator Genome Instability and Chromatin-Remodeling Section |
Dr. Wang was trained as a biochemist and a molecular biologist at both UCLA, where he obtained his Ph.D., and Stanford University, where he worked as a postdoctoral fellow. His research has focused on the regulation of mammalian gene expression at the chromatin level. He has purified to homogeneity one of the first ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes in mammals, and has subsequently cloned all the subunits within one complex. His current projects include characterization of novel chromatin-remodeling complexes involved in human ATRX syndrome (X-linked mental retardation and a-thalassemia); helicase complexes involved in the Werner premature aging syndrome, Bloom syndrome, and Rothmund-Thompson syndrome; and a ubiquitin ligase complex involved in a genomic instability disease, Fanconi anemia. Research Interests: The establishment and maintenance of transcriptionally active and inactive chromatin structure in higher eucaryotes is key for global gene regulation during development, differentiation and adaptation to environmental stimuli. Evidence accumulated during the last two decades indicates that chromatin structures are remodeled when multipotent precursor cells develop into terminally-differentiated cells. However, the underlying mechanism of chromatin remodeling is poorly understood, primarily because molecules that remodel chromatin structures have been discovered only recently. These complexes can be classified into two different families: one, the histone acetyltransferase or deacetylase complexes which alter the chromatin structure by covalently modifying the tails of histones; the other, the ATP-Dependent Chromatin-Remodeling (ADCR) complexes which use the energy of ATP to disrupt non-covalent DNA-histone contacts. The main focus of our lab is to purify and characterize mammalian ADCR complexes. |
Contact Information: Laboratory of Genetics Biomedical Research Center, 10B133 251 Bayview Boulevard, Suite 100 Baltimore, MD 21224-6825 Phone 410-558-8334 Fax 410-558-8331 E mail wwang@grc.nia.nih.gov For more information about the Laboratory: http://www.grc.nia.nih.gov/branches/lg/trru/trru.htm |
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