Nitzan Tal

Essay

Nucleotides on the frontline

Nucleotide-centric defense systems reveal a core principle in bacterial antiviral immunity

GENOMICS, PROTEOMICS, & SYSTEMS BIOLOGY

Abstract

Genes that promote cell growth are often amplified in cancer via increased DNA copy numbers outside chromosomes, driving tumor formation. How this extrachromosomal DNA is regulated and inherited by dividing cancer cells was poorly understood. We used fluorescence imaging, genomics and computational modeling to study the DNA sequences, physical interactions, and activities of extrachromosomal DNA in cancer cells. We found that these extrachromosomal DNA molecules dynamically rearrange in sequence, physically activate one another in space and are inherited together by dividing cancer cells. These properties defy the normal constraints of chromosomes and allow cancer cells to become hyperactive. Studying the dynamic DNA of cancer will ultimately help us understand how cancer cells grow and evolve, and design better treatments to target them.

Biography

Nitzan Tal received an undergraduate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a PhD from Weizmann Institute of Science. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL Heidelberg), where she explores how bacteria respond to threats in their environment.