Talk by Prof. Rosana Collepardo Guevara on The Multiscale Structure of Chromatin Condensates

Professor Rosana Collepardo Guevara, Professor of Computational and Molecular Biophysics, Departments of Chemistry and Genetics at the University of Cambridge, will give a talk on "The multiscale structure of chromatin condensates".

Where: Biocenter room 1-2-03, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, 2200 Cph

When: Feb 18th, 15:00–16:00

Abstract:

The three-dimensional organization of the DNA in our Cells exemplifies how physical principles govern biological function across scales. Nearly two meters of DNA are compacted into a micrometer-sized nucleus, while remaining dynamically accessible to regulate gene expression. This challenge is accomplished through the assembly of DNA into chromatin.

In recent years, it has become clear that chromatin participates in biomolecular condensates—membraneless compartments that organize nuclear components through collective interactions. Despite their importance, the molecular organization of chromatin within condensates, and how it gives rise to their material properties, has remained poorly understood.

In this talk, I will present our multiscale molecular dynamics simulations, performed at near-atomistic resolution and guided by cryo-electron tomography, which resolve the structure of chromatin condensates across scales: from individual amino acids and DNA base pairs to emergent network architecture. I will discuss how how the structure of individual chromatin fibers encodes the physical properties of chromatin condensates, providing a quantitative framework that links molecular architecture to mesoscale nuclear organization. This work highlights the power of multiscale simulations to bridge experiments and theory in understanding genome organization.