For his WALS talk, Garcia will discuss technology advancements that have allowed for high-throughput quantitative mass spectrometry analyses of histone post-translational modification sites (PTMs) and chromatin structure, and how investigators are applying these methods to understand epigenetic reprogramming found in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). MPNST is an aggressive sarcoma with recurrent loss of function alterations in polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2), a histone-modifying complex involved in transcriptional silencing.
For more information go to oir.nih.gov/wals