Matthew Jakubik

Harvard Medical School
Department of Genetics
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
New Research Building, Rm 264
Boston, MA 02115
fax (617)432-7663

Research Interests

The pairing of maternal and paternal homologous chromosomes is a process commonly associated with meiosis; however, it is becoming more apparent that homolog pairing and other interchromosomal interactions are a common occurrence in somatic cells and may play an important role in the regulation of genes and chromatin structure (1, 2). My research will investigate if homolog pairing alters chromatin structure using chromatin mapping and footprinting techniques. Additionally, previous work has shown that homolog pairing is essential for certain trans regulatory interactions in D. melanogaster, namely transvection via enhancer action in trans and transvection via insulator bypass (3, 4). Current models posit that homolog pairing-mediated changes to gene topology are responsible for insulator bypass (4). I will investigate if such topological constraints are responsible for this interaction.

Biographical Information

♦ Second year graduate student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) program at Harvard Medical School
♦ Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Russian Studies from Muhlenberg College (2006).

References

1) Carter, et al. Long range chromatin regulatory interactions in vivo. Nature Genetics. 2002. 32: 623-626.
2) Spilianakas, et al. Interchromosomal associations between alternatively expressed loci. Nature. 2005. 435: 637-645.
3) Lewis, E. The theory and application of a new method of detecting chromosomal rearrangements in Drosophila melanogaster. The American Naturalist. 1954. 93: 225-239.
4) Morris, et al. Two modes of transvection: Enhancer action in trans and bypass of a chromatin insulator in cis. PNAS. 1998. 95: 10740-10745.