[SLST Seminar] APOBEC mutagenesis in cancer

ON2024-06-06TAG: ShanghaiTech UniversityCATEGORY: Lecture

Topic: APOBEC mutagenesis in cancer
Speaker: Professor Reuben Harris, Chair of the Biochemistry and Structural Biology Department, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA)
Date and time: June 7, 15:30–16:30
Venue: Auditorium, L Building
Host: Chen Jia

Abstract: 
APOBEC enzymes are single-stranded DNA cytosine-to-uracil (C-to-U) deaminases. APOBEC mutagenesis has emerged as the second largest source of mutation in cancer. It impacts 70% of all cancer types and is the dominant mutagen in large numbers of bladder, breast, cervical, head/neck, and lung tumors. APOBEC mutagenesis is defined by signature base substitution mutations (C-to-T and C-to-G mutations) in 5’-TCA and 5’-TCT motifs, but its impact is much broader with many C-to-U deamination events leading to DNA breakage, insertion-deletion mutations, and larger-scale chromosomal aberrations. APOBEC also associates with detrimental clinical outcomes including drug resistance and metastasis. This seminar will review seminal advances and discuss recent mechanistic studies.

Biography: 
2022–present
Chair of the Biochemistry and Structural Biology Department, University of Texas Health San Antonio 
2015–present 
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) 
2013–2022 
Professor, University of Minnesota Twin Cities 
2008–2013 
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Twin Cities 
2003–2008 
Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Twin Cities