# Dynamic role of Prmt5 in chromatin organization during adipogenesis

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2020 · $67,446

## Abstract

The prevalence of obesity is astounding, and obesity-related health care costs amount to more than $147
billion a year in the US. Adipocytes in adipose tissue play a major role in obesity, as adipocytes are
responsible for storing excess fat. Our lab previously found that the arginine methyltransferase Prmt5 is
required for adipocyte differentiation, in part due to its ability to mediate enhancer-promoter loops, cis-
interactions between transcribed genes on the same chromosome, and trans-interactions between adipocyte-
specific regulatory sequences on different chromosomes. A major goal of this study is to identify how Prmt5
mediates higher order chromatin interactions genome-wide and whether this corresponds to transcriptional
activation prior to and during adipogenesis. An additional aim is to establish whether transcription factor Sp2
and other proteins associate with Prmt5 to aid in Prmt5’s ability to act as a transcriptional activator in
preadipocytes. To test this, I will investigate Prmt5’s chromatin binding sites genome-wide prior to and during
adipogenesis and relate it to chromatin conformation changes with and without Prmt5 knockdown. I will utilize
high-level computational approaches to draw conclusions by integrating my chromatin landscape and genome
organization studies with publicly available datasets in the adipogenic model, the 3T3-L1 cell line. The study
will also investigate Sp2 and Prmt5 complexing partners and whether Sp2 is an important coregulator of
Prmt5-target genes during adipogenesis. These studies will provide critical insight into how Prmt5 and other
factors regulate the chromatin landscape, higher order chromatin structure and transcriptional activation during
adipogenesis. My studies will shed light on this relatively understudied protein arginine methyl transferase and
may lead to identification of novel therapeutic targets for modulating adipogenesis and targeting obesity and
obesity-related diseases.
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9970157
- **Project number:** 5F32DK118846-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Sabriya Syed
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $67,446
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9970157

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9970157, Dynamic role of Prmt5 in chromatin organization during adipogenesis (5F32DK118846-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9970157. Licensed CC0.

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