# Center for Functional Validation and Evaluation of ENCODE Enhancer Regions, Grant Number 5UM1HG009426-03

> **NIH NIH UM1** · TEMPUS LABS, INC. · 2020 · $443,573

## Abstract

Project Summary
The purpose of each ENCODE Functional Characterization Center is “to develop and apply generalizable
approaches to characterize the role of candidate functional elements identified the ENCODE project in specific
biological contexts”. Our proposed Center will focus on characterization of candidate enhancer elements. We
will develop, refine and apply experimental methods for functional assays of enhancers. We will use two very
different biological models chosen for their high potential to act as generalizable exemplars for the study of
enhancers in the context of (i) inherited risk factors for disease, and (ii) somatic mutations involved in cancers.
We will also develop and refine our experimental methods in ENCODE cell lines, and we will reserve 25% of
our efforts for testing candidate genomic elements that will be studied in common across all of the ENCODE
Functional Characterization Centers. Using STARR-seq, and variations thereof, we will test for sufficiency of
candidate enhancer elements to modulate gene expression. Using CRISPR-Cas9 methods we will edit the
human genome, testing for necessity of candidate enhancer elements in their endogenous context. We will
utilize these methods to examine the effects of inherited DNA variation on enhancer function in models of
coronary artery disease (CAD), and to examine the effects of acquired somatic DNA mutations on enhancer
function in models of pancreatic cancer (Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma – PDAC). While our approach
necessarily requires a bioinformatics component to utilize ENCODE and other existing data sets in order to
define the best candidate enhancer elements for testing in the specific biological models we will assay, our
Center will be focused on experimental characterization of enhancers, testing different combinations of
approaches in order to create extensible and generalizable protocols for systematic and accurate
characterization of enhancer function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9949750
- **Project number:** 5UM1HG009426-05
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPUS LABS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Robin Moran
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $443,573
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-11-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9949750

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9949750, Center for Functional Validation and Evaluation of ENCODE Enhancer Regions, Grant Number 5UM1HG009426-03 (5UM1HG009426-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9949750. Licensed CC0.

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