Trial lecture
The candidate will first give a trial lecture on the following topic: 'The Relationship Between Genome Architecture and the Evolution of Multicellularity'
Time and place: Dec. 3, 2025 10:15 AM, Nucleus, Bikuben, Kristine Bonnevies hus
Main research findings
The human genome, nearly two meters of DNA and six billion bases, is compacted into a micrometer-sized nucleus. This organization is not random and is important for cell functions. This thesis focuses on two key levels of compartmentalization: Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) which are regions that interact more within themselves than with other regions, and compartments, which segregates active chromatin (A) from inactive chromatin (B).
This work explores:
- Evolutionary Conservation: by comparing TADs across 12 vertebrate species, we found that many TAD features are evolutionarily conserved. We further adapted an evolutionary model that provided evidence for stabilizing selection for TAD number within most syntenic regions.
- Functional implications of compartment switching: consequences of compartmentalization changes in breast epithelial cells were analyzed following HP1a knockdown and TGFb treatment, both relevant to cancer. Removing HP1a led to a more open, active chromatin state, while TGFb induced a more closed, repressive state. In both cases, switches were linked to a dysregulation of cancer-related genes.
In summary, this thesis provides new insights into the central role of genome compartmentalization in defining the structure and function of the 3D genome across both evolutionary and dynamic timescale, highlighting its key role in gene regulation, development, and disease.
Adjudication committee
Assoc. Prof. Pelin Sahlén, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Prof. Dariusz Plewczyński, University of Warsaw
Prof. Eivind Valen, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Chair of defense
Prof. emeritus Odd Stokke Gabrielsen, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Prof. Rein Aasland, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Prof. Jonas Paulsen, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo