Research Abstract
Recent whole-genome sequencing studies of human cancers and other diseases have heralded the discovery of several new, surprising classes of genes not previously known to play causal oncogenic roles. One of the most significant findings unveiled in these genetic studies is the high mutation frequency in genes involved in epigenomic and chromatin biology-based processes. The most frequent and widespread among them are mutations in the genes encoding subunits of the mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF or BAF) family of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes, recurrently perturbed in >20% of all human cancers. The central focus of our laboratory is to understand the structure and function of this large, diverse class of chromatin remodeling machines and to define their roles in human disease.