Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/09/2024
9:00 am - 10:00 am
Category(ies)
Zong Wei, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Date: Friday, February 9, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: PSH 152
Abstract
The epigenome of dysfunctional beta cells is shaped by dysregulation of multiple chromatin regulators. Rapid and chronic molecular responses are induced when pancreatic islets are exposed to adverse conditions. Although these responses are well studied at protein and transcriptional levels, the molecular underpinnings of chromatin dynamics in response to metabolic and inflammatory challenges in islets are largely unclear. A major research direction in my lab is to understand the dynamics of epigenetic cofactors driven by nuclear hormone signaling. Our recent studies showed that targeting vitamin D-induced chromatin remodeling can boost the anti-inflammatory responses in beta cells. In another direction, inhibiting a bromodomain reader potentiates the anti-inflammatory function of glucocorticoids in macrophages. In addition, recently we have developed a multiomic pipeline to profile chromatin modification and RNA expression from single cells. We have applied this method on mouse and human islets to identify the transcription and enhancer dynamics of beta cell dysfunction in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Future integration of multiple histone marks will eventually establish an epigenetic landscape of beta cell dysfunction.
BioSketch
ZongWei, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of physiology in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, and Division of Endocrinology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Dr. Wei obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Dr. Wei joined Mayo Clinic Arizona following postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. At Mayo, the Wei lab investigates the transcription and epigenetic mechanisms of diabetes, obesity, and inflammation, with a focus on nuclear hormone receptors and their epigenetic cofactors in pancreatic islet dysfunction in diabetes. His team employs a variety of tools, which include mouse models, epigenomic and computational tools, human organoid models, functional genomics, single-cell multi-omics, and proteomics.