Chromatin State and Modifications in Aging

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Location: 205 CC

CE: 1.5

Chair(s)

Simone Sidoli, PhD

Assistant Professor
Biochemistry
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
New York, New York, United States

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

Simone Sidoli, PhD

Assistant Professor
Biochemistry
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
New York, New York, United States
PA

Peter Adams

Sanford Burnham
San Diego, California, United States
Payel Sen, PhD

Stadtman Tenure-track Investigator
Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics
National Institute on Aging, NIH
Baltimore, Maryland, United States

In this symposium, the speakers will discuss how genomic stability and chromatin state are affected during aging using complementary perspectives, model systems and technology. Methods such as structural genomics, genome-wide mapping, super-resolution microscopy, mass spectrometry, and enzymology are utilized to describe hallmarks of aging in models such as C. elegans, mice, and 2D vs 3D human cell culture. Dr. Gasser will introduce loss of histone H3K9 methylation as driver of promiscuous transcription of repeat elements in the genome, leading to excessive R-loop formation, and germline instability in C. elegans. Dr. Lakadamyali applies innovative super-resolution microscopy to visualize and quantify the spatial organization of chromatin with nanoscale spatial resolution in single cells, revealing how disordered patches at the nucleosomal level correlate with cell phenotype. Dr. Sen will present a multi-omics approach on murine models to reveal that aged cells organize a specific type of heterochromatin unable to self-interact over long distances. These findings expose that global chromatin alterations pose a barrier and promote a cellular state that is refractory to injury sensing and repair. Finally, Dr. Sidoli will describe how mass spectrometry is applied to investigate combinatorial histone modifications that benchmark regions of decondensed heterochromatin, and show the enrichment of unusual histone modifications in a cohort of centenarian patients.

Learning Objectives:

summarize how genomic stability and chromatin state are affected during aging using genomics, proteomics, super-resolution microscopy and other innovative analytical approaches
learn about the latest discoveries on the role of histone modification dynamics during aging and how these modifications affect transcription
demonstrate how different biological systems provide complementary insight in modeling the progression of aging, including C. elegans, mouse, human cell culture and human biopsies

Presentations:

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Modeling Reactivated Heterochromatin Using an Aging 3D Cell Model
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Simone Sidoli, PhD – Albert Einstein College of Medicine
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

The Dynamic Genome – Challenges and Opportunities for Healthy Aging
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Peter Adams – Sanford Burnham
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Tissue Aging
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Payel Sen, PhD – National Institute on Aging, NIH