Webinars
Transcription webinar
April 24, 2026 | 10–11:10 a.m. Eastern | Free registration required
The monthly ASBMB Transcription Webinars aim to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among researchers in the fields of transcription, chromatin and epigenetics. Each session will feature presentations from two or three leading experts who will share their latest research on transcriptional regulation by chromatin and RNA polymerase.
The series is organized by Kai Ge, chief of the Adipocyte Biology & Gene Regulation Section at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and Yan Jessie Zhang, distinguished professor in biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin.
Speakers
Epigenetic regulation by histone acetylation in health and disease
Asifa Akhtar, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics
A person’s genetic makeup, inherited from their parents, remains constant in every cell of the body. While our genes are fixed, lifestyle factors such as diet, environment and stress can influence the epigenetic states of our cells. These chromatin modifications serve as a molecular memory, directing cells on which genes to activate or silence. Understanding how these modifications are established could pave the way for targeted therapies that reverse the molecular signatures of metabolic diseases, aging and cancer. The Akhtar lab has focused on the roles of lysine acetyltransferases, uncovering previously unrecognized functions of these epigenetic enzymes, especially their connections to human diseases. Notably, the lab has elucidated how the acetyltransferase MOF, within the MSL complex, regulates X chromosome gene dosage, along with long non-coding RNAs that direct the MSL complex specifically to the X chromosome. Through studies on MOF, the Akhtar lab identified the NSL complex as a critical regulator of genome-wide expression and uncovered its essential role in mitochondrial gene expression and metabolism. The latest advancements in this work will be presented.
Uncovering critical lysines in mammalian histone H3 with high-throughput CRISPR prime editing
Greg Wang, Duke University
A discussion of the roles for specific amino acid patterns within the intrinsically disordered region (IDR) in the transcriptional regulation.
