NEWS

By SHELLIE BYRUM
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

CHAPEL HILL -- Scientists worldwide will gather at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill April 20 and 21 to discuss the role of epigenetics and chromatin in cancer.

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s 28th Annual Scientific Symposium, "Chromatin, Epigenetics and Cancer," will focus on basic mechanisms associated with gene modification and altered gene environment and how these events may contribute to cancer, said Dr. Yi Zhang, symposium coordinator.

Recent studies have indicated that epigenetic modifications are important factors in human cancer, Zhang said.

"The fact that epigenetic modifications to DNA are involved in cancer is likely due to its role in generating altered or inappropriate gene expression," he said. "The landmark accomplishment of completing the sequence of the human genome has laid the foundation for these new findings and their importance in cancer."

The symposium will be held at UNC’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. All symposium sessions are free to the public, but pre-registration is recommended.

Registration begins at 8:15 a.m. on April 20. Dr. H. Shelton Earp III, Lineberger Center director, and Zhang will give introductory remarks at 8:45 a.m.

Dr. Bill Marzluff, professor in UNC’s department of biochemistry and biophysics and executive associate dean of the UNC’s School of Medicine, will chair the first session, titled "Histone Modifications and Chromatin Regulation." The session begins at 9 a.m. with a presentation by Lineberger lecturer Dr. C. David Allis titled "Beyond the Double Helix: Writing and Reading the Histone Code."

The following scientists also will speak: Dr. Shelley L. Berger, of the Wistar Institute; Zhang, of the Lineberger Center; and Dr. Gary Felsenfeld, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Dr. Terry Magnuson, chairman of UNC’s department of genetics and Sarah Graham Kenan professor of genetics, will chair the second session, "DNA Methylation in Transcription and Development," which will begin at 1:30 p.m.

The speakers for this session are as follows: Dr. Howard Cedar, of Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center; Dr. Timothy H. Bestor, of Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons; Dr. En Li, of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research; and Dr. Peter Jones, of the University of Southern California.

The third session will begin April 21 at 9 a.m. "Histone Modifications and Transcription Regulation" will be chaired by Dr. Jack Griffith, a professor in UNC’s department of microbiology and immunology. This session will include the following speakers: Dr. Robert Roeder, of Rockefeller University; Dr. Danny Reinberg, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Dr. Brian Strahl, of the Lineberger Center; and Dr. Katherine A. Jones, of the Salk Institute.

Dr. Jason Lieb will chair the fourth and final session, "Chromatin and Diseases," which will begin at 1:30 p.m. Lieb is an assistant professor in UNC’s department of biology and in the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences.

The speakers for this session are Dr. Ron Evans, of the Salk Institute; Dr. Trevor Archer, of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences; and Dr. Michael Cleary, of the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Symposium sponsors are the Lineberger Center and the UNC School of Medicine departments of biology, biochemistry and biophysics, cell and development biology, dermatology, genetics, pathology, pharmacology, radiation oncology, radiology, chemistry and microbiology and immunology, as well as the clinical nutrition research center.

The symposium’s lead sponsor is the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences of Research Triangle Park. Additional support has been provided by Amgen Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Co., GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Upstate Biotechnology Inc., the N.C. Biotechnology Center and Fisher Scientific.

Lunch will be provided, for $12, at the Friday Center on April 20 and 21. In addition, a dinner will be held on April 20 at the Kenan Center. For more information, call Melissa Mack at (919) 966-3036. Online registration and other information are available at http://cancer.med.unc.edu.

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Lineberger Center contact: Dianne G. Shaw, (919) 966-5905