Seminar – Alexey A. Soshnev, MD, PhD

Dr. Soshnev’s research focuses on chromatin, a polymer complex comprised of DNA and associated proteins. Chromatin plays a critical role in all cellular processes where DNA is involved, such as cell division, DNA damage repair and gene regulation. Histones are the most abundant class of chromatin proteins, and several classes of histones contribute to both structural and regulatory mechanisms in DNA.

Dr. Soshnev and collaborators recently demonstrated that chromosome decompaction can precipitate a chain of events leading to malignant transformation, and over a third of patients diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma carry somatic (i.e. tumor-specific) mutations in genes encoding H1 histones.

Dr. Soshnev and his team will decipher the genetic dependencies, consequences, and vulnerabilities of H1 loss in B-cell malignancy. Understanding the specific downstream effects of H1 histone loss can provide a new way to rescue the effects of these mutations.