Time: 12:00 hrs

Location: Kronigzaal, including lunch

BN Seminar, May 25th

Erasmus Optical Imaging Centre & Dept. of Pathology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands, a.houtsmuller@erasmusmc.nl

The molecular mechanisms underlying the proper regulation of DNA-interacting processes inside the living cell nucleus such as gene transcription and DNA repair are poorly understood. To address this, we use GFP-tagging of transcription factors and DNA-repair enzymes and study their function in living cells with confocal time-lapse imaging and quantitative fluorescence assays such as fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and single molecule tracking. In addition, for optimal interpretation of the complex experimental results we develop and apply Monte Carlo modeling to simulate and analyse quantitative imaging assays as well as the behavior of proteins in repair and transcription. The focus of this seminar will be on how transcription initiation factors (androgen receptor) and DNA damage sensors (XPC) find and bind their target sites in chromatin.