Cancer is a disease of genes. Yet the elucidation of cancer genomes does not mean we have conquered cancer; the central challenge is in their interpretation. In every human cell, two meters of DNA is packed into a ~10 micron nucleus. The genome is extensively compacted, except for the active regulatory DNA elements that remain accessible. I will describe new technologies based on DNA transposition that reveal the epigenomic profiles of single cells or from clinical biopsies of disease states. The landscape of active DNA regulatory elements are further linked to 3D genome architecture, mutational profiles, and RNA output to reveal the targets of disease associated DNA elements, such as inherited genetic variants or those modified by environmental stimuli. Our analysis of 23 human cancer types reveal nearly half a million active DNA elements across human cancers, disclose oncogenic extrachromosomal DNA, and identify gene-regulatory interactions underlying cancer immune evasion. These results suggest a systematic approach to understanding the noncoding genome in cancer to advance diagnosis and therapy.
Where & When
Zoom Webinar
Thursday, September 22, 2022, 1:00 to 2:00 PM PT
About the Speaker
Howard Y. Chang M.D., Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes and the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research at Stanford University. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; he is also Professor of Dermatology and of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine. Chang earned a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed Dermatology residency and postdoctoral training at Stanford University. His research addresses how large sets of genes are turned on or off together, which is important in normal development, cancer, and aging. Chang discovered a new class of genes, termed long noncoding RNAs, can control gene activity throughout the genome, illuminating a new layer of biological regulation. He invented ATAC-seq and other new methods for defining DNA regulatory elements genome-wide and in single cells. The long term goal of his research is to decipher the regulatory information in the genome to benefit human health.
Dr. Chang is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy for the Arts and Sciences. Dr. Chang’s honors include the NAS Award for Molecular Biology, Outstanding Investigator Award of the National Cancer Institute, Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Judson Daland Prize of the American Philosophical Society, and the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise. His work was honored by the journal Cell as a Landmark paper over the last 40 years and by Science as “Insight of the decade”.