# Mechanisms of condensin-mediated gene regulation in C. elegans

> **NIH NIH R35** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $418,043

## Abstract

Research summary
Regulation of transcription is essential for cell function. In eukaryotes, diverse mechanisms control transcription
through chromatin structure and organization of DNA within the nucleus. Histone modifications modulate the
activity of gene regulatory elements and regulate binding of proteins that form transcriptionally active and
inactive compartments. Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes bind and translocate on
DNA, forming loops that bring distant sites into contact. As the molecular activities of individual chromatin
modifiers and SMC complexes are being studied, it is important to determine how they integrate with each
other to control transcription during development and differentiation.
Our research program addresses the functional interactions between SMC complexes, chromatin, and
transcription around three topics. The first focuses on condensin, a eukaryotic SMC complex that has been
challenging to study in vivo because it is essential for cell division and binds chromosomes transiently during
mitosis. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a hermaphrodite-specific condensin functions throughout the
cell cycle to repress X chromosome transcription for dosage compensation. Condensin DC also controls
histone modifications, providing an excellent system to study integration of SMC activity and chromatin
modifiers for transcription regulation. The second topic focuses on the interaction between condensin and
cohesin, another SMC that regulates the organization of eukaryotic genomes during interphase. As cells
progress from interphase to mitosis, cohesin binding and activity decreases while condensin’s increase and
transcription is silenced. This transition is key to regulation of cell-type specific transcriptional programs during
differentiation. By addressing how condensin DC interacts with cohesin on the X chromosomes, we believe our
work can provide insights into the interphase to mitotic transition of the eukaryotic genomes. The third topic is
regulation of RNA Polymerase III, which transcribes a diverse array of small functional RNAs, including tRNAs.
RNA Pol III regulation is relatively understudied and is important for protein translation in health and disease.
Due to unique chromosomal distribution of tRNA genes, our work in C. elegans dosage compensation puts us
in an ideal place to study the mechanisms that regulate RNA Pol III transcription.
In the next five years our research will provide significant insights into how cohesin, condensin and chromatin
work together to regulate transcription during development and differentiation. Our program is also evolving to
address environmental gene regulation and RNA Pol III transcription – new and important areas of study to
understand basic mechanisms of genome organization and function throughout the life of an organism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10842824
- **Project number:** 2R35GM130311-06
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sevinc Ercan
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $418,043
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10842824

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10842824, Mechanisms of condensin-mediated gene regulation in C. elegans (2R35GM130311-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10842824. Licensed CC0.

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