[Colloquium] TTIC Talk: Roger Pique-Regi, University of Chicago

[Liv Leader]

REMINDER:

When: Tuesday March 20 @ 11

Where: TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue, Room 526

Who: Roger Pique-Regi, University of Chicago

Title: Understanding the impact of genetic variation on molecular mechanisms
of transcriptional regulation

ABSTRACT:
There is growing evidence that variation in complex traits and
susceptibility to specific diseases is due to changes in the sequences
that affect gene regulation. One of the current challenges in genomic
research is to identify and better understand regions of the genome
with gene regulatory potential. We used DNase I sequencing (DNase-seq)
to measure chromatin accessibility in 70 Yoruba lymphoblastoid cell
lines, for which genome-wide genotypes and estimates of gene
expression levels are also available. With these data sets, and new
computational methods, we were able to produce one of the most
complete maps of regulatory regions that are actively used on those
cells. Across individuals, we identified 8,902 locations at which the
DNase-seq read depth correlated significantly with genotype at a
nearby locus (FDR = 10%). We call such genetic variants 'DNase I
sensitivity quantitative trait loci' (dsQTLs). We found that dsQTLs
are strongly enriched within inferred transcription factor binding
sites and are frequently associated with allele-specific changes in
transcription factor binding. We estimate that as many as 55% of
genetic variants affecting expression levels (eQTLs) are dsQTLs and
are likely to be important contributors to phenotypic variation.

Host: Jinbo Xu, j3xu at ttic.edu

-- 
Liv Leader
Human Resources Coordinator

Toyota Technological Institute Chicago
6045 S Kenwood Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone- (773) 702-5033
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Email-  lleader at ttic.edu
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