BBE Division Seminar - Krishna Shrinivas

"Gene regulation and decision-making: Exploring the role of biomolecular condensates"

Living cells are densely crowded and highly dynamic environments in which billions of biomolecular interactions occur continuously. Cells appear to organize this complexity, in part, through biomolecular condensates - mesoscale assemblies that concentrate specific factors without membrane boundaries. While condensates have been widely observed, particularly in the nucleus, their precise roles and functional contributions remain difficult to dissect.

In this talk, I will present our work on transcription-associated condensates through two complementary themes centered on decision-making. In the first, I will discuss work in collaboration with the Sabari lab showing how condensates could help define enhancer activity and coordinate gene expression through the condensation of cell-type-specific transcriptional cofactors. In the second theme, I will discuss work in collaboration with the Murugan and Winfree labs developing theoretical models that examine how the physical principles of condensate formation can be harnessed to sensitively distinguish intracellular surfaces like different chromatin regions and what limits this form of information processing.

Together, this work connects the physical basis of condensate formation to their roles in gene regulation and decision-making in cells.

Host: Erik Winfree