Mendel Lectures - Joseph R. Ecker

Přednáška jarní části cyklu Mendel Lectures. Přednáška Josepha Eckera proběhne v Mendelově refektáři s živým přenosem do Mendelova skleníku, v angličtině.

Joseph R. Ecker is a pioneering genomicist whose laboratory develops and applies single-cell epigenomic technologies to map gene regulation across the mammalian brain and body. In 2009, he and colleagues published the first genome-wide, base-resolution map of the human methylome, establishing the field of mammalian epigenomics at single-nucleotide resolution. Building on that foundation, his group invented single-cell technologies — snmC-seq, snm3C-seq, and snmCAT-seq — enabling joint profiling of DNA methylation and three-dimensional chromatin organization, transcription and open chromatin in individual cells. As a core PI to the NIH BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICAN), his Center for Multiomic Human Brain Cell Atlas has generated comprehensive epigenomic atlases of the mouse and human brain, most recently producing the first multimodal single-cell epigenomic and 3D genome atlas of the human basal ganglia — a brain region central to motor control and reward processing whose dysfunction underlies numerous neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. This work has revealed cell-type- and region-specific regulatory signatures, including distinct 3D genome architectures distinguishing neuronal and non-neuronal populations. His group has also produced a human body-wide single-cell atlas of DNA methylation and genome architecture. Earlier in his career, Ecker directed major portions of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome sequencing effort. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

About the Lecture

Understanding the cellular and molecular basis of brain function requires resolving gene regulation at single-cell resolution across the many neuronal and non-neuronal cell types that comprise the mammalian brain. This talk describes technologies developed in our laboratory — snmC-seq, snm3C-seq, and snmCT-seq — that jointly profile DNA methylation, three-dimensional chromatin organization, and gene expression in individual cells and their application at scale within the NIH BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICAN). I will present our recent multimodal single-cell epigenomic and 3D genome atlas of the human basal ganglia, a region central to motor control and reward processing, built from profiled nuclei across major subregions and cell types. This atlas uncovers cell-type- and region-specific regulatory programs and reveals that non-neuronal cells display distinct genome architecture from neurons, including altered chromatin compartmentalization. I will discuss how these findings illuminate gene regulatory networks relevant to neurological and neuropsychiatric disease.