Ben Carty

Ben Carty

@bencarty.bsky.social

Wellcome Early Career Fellow, Jansen lab, University of Oxford | Christ Church, Oxford | All things (neo)centromeres and chromatin

128 followers187 following18 posts

Ben Carty reposted

Ben Carty reposted

Ben Carty reposted

The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)

Ben Carty reposted

Today we celebrate our colleagues Colin Kleanthous and Rob Klose as they join the Fellowship of the Royal Society, one of the highest honours in the scientific world, in recognition of their impactful contributions to knowledge. Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏 Read more ⬇️

bit.lyCongratulations to Colin Kleanthous and Rob Klose on joining the Fellowship of the Royal SocietyThe two scientists have been selected for outstanding contributions to their fields

Ben Carty reposted

Just returned from an incredible 3-day multi-lab retreat with the teams of Daniele Fachinetti, Nick @naltemose.bsky.social, and Dominika Gruszka in Pêra, Portugal. Sunshine😎, great company 🤗 and fantastic centromere and chromatin science 🔬! Thanks to all the teams for this wonderful gathering!

Ben Carty reposted

Do you want to move to Oxford and join our lab? There is a computational biologist position open atm to develop and implement tools to analyse TE expression in single cell long read data and more. Apply! #TEsky #UniversityofOxford #postdoc

Rebecca Berrens@rberrens.bsky.social

We are looking for a Postdoc to join our lab at @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social. This is a dry-lab focused post on the computational analysis of long read single-cell sequencing data to understand the role of transposable elements (TEs) in early development. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... #TEsky

Ben Carty reposted

Ben Carty reposted

Ben Carty reposted

Some Friday reading...new review in Open Biology where we discuss how SWI/SNF maintains the chromatin environment around centromeres, building on recent work from ourselves and others. Lots of fun putting this together with @alison-harrod.bsky.social and @thedownslab.bsky.social!

royalsocietypublishing.orgBoundary issues: SWI/SNF shapes chromatin patterns in and around centromeresAbstract. The SWI/SNF family of chromatin remodelling complexes, comprising BAF, PBAF and ncBAF, is known for their critical roles in regulating chromatin

We discover that CENP-A chromatin at a de novo human neocentromere and at canonical alpha satellites are highly plastic! And are surrounded by dense regions of H3K9me3 heterochromatin (& DNAme)! But is this functional? 3/4

Heterochromatin plays a key role in restricting the position of the CENP-A/C domain, ensuring only one CENP-A is nucleated per centromere. SUV39H1/2 and SETDB1 H3K9me3 methyltransferases differentially control neocentromeres, pericentromeric, and core alpha satellites. 4/4

With new developments in single molecule epigenomics using @nanoporetech.com, we revisited a key question in chromosome biology - why does pericentric heterochromatin surround the centromere? We hypothesised that it may be required to keep an epigenetic centromere locus in place! 2/4

Ben Carty reposted

A fantastic review of the cell cycle control of centromeres from our lab. Lots learned and many open questions 40 years later!

Lars Jansen Lab@jansenlab.bsky.social

The discovery of CENP-A, the centromere-specific histone H3 variant turns 40 years! Grant Rowley wrote a wonderful historical piece on the cell cycle control of this fascinating piece of chromatin! Check it out. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ben Carty reposted

I am looking for a new postdoc to join the lab. Interested in pluripotency, germ cells, and in investigating these in a genetically tractable cnidarian? Get in touch! We offer a long-term contract, excellent research environment, and a lovely city #Galway. www.urifranklab.org

Ben Carty reposted

Fresh of the press! rdcu.be/egmY0 We discovered key chromatin modifications that are heritably maintained through mitotic cell divisions in the absence of continued transcription. These hold a memory of past exposure to interferon-gamma, priming cells for future activation of gene expression.

Ben Carty reposted

Why is there only one centromere site? But megabases worth of satellite DNA per chromosome? Something surely keeps it in place! In our latest work, we investigate the role of heterochromatin in maintaining centromere position, size and number! A sky(?)torial.. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgHeterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and numberCentromeres are chromosomal loci that ensure proper chromosome segregation by providing a platform for kinetochore assembly and spindle force transduction during cell division. Human centromeres are d...
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But what about the rest of the alpha satellites? To our surprise, we nucleate new centromeres on satellite arrays when we reduce H3K9me3 repressive chromatin. New CDRs, and what appear to be functional dicentrics on mitotic chromosomes!

Why is there only one centromere site? But megabases worth of satellite DNA per chromosome? Something surely keeps it in place! In our latest work, we investigate the role of heterochromatin in maintaining centromere position, size and number! A sky(?)torial.. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgHeterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and numberCentromeres are chromosomal loci that ensure proper chromosome segregation by providing a platform for kinetochore assembly and spindle force transduction during cell division. Human centromeres are d...
View full thread

But how is H3K9me3 being regulated at centromeres? We find roles for SETDB1, SUV39 H1/H2, as well as non-canonical roles for PRC2 component SUZ12! Disruption has a substantial effect on H3K9me3 boundaries

Why is there only one centromere site? But megabases worth of satellite DNA per chromosome? Something surely keeps it in place! In our latest work, we investigate the role of heterochromatin in maintaining centromere position, size and number! A sky(?)torial.. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgHeterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and numberCentromeres are chromosomal loci that ensure proper chromosome segregation by providing a platform for kinetochore assembly and spindle force transduction during cell division. Human centromeres are d...
View full thread

Neo4p13 formed in a SUV39 regulated H3K9me3 domain. We perturbed H3K9me3 and (compensating) H3K27me3 surrounding this centromere.. with some quite dramatic effects on the neocentromere!

Why is there only one centromere site? But megabases worth of satellite DNA per chromosome? Something surely keeps it in place! In our latest work, we investigate the role of heterochromatin in maintaining centromere position, size and number! A sky(?)torial.. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgHeterochromatin boundaries maintain centromere position, size and numberCentromeres are chromosomal loci that ensure proper chromosome segregation by providing a platform for kinetochore assembly and spindle force transduction during cell division. Human centromeres are d...

How can we model centromere position and inheritence? Using our neocentromere in RPE1 cells (Neo4p13).. we assess centromere position over 100 days of culture. It moves.. somewhat.. but overall size is remarkably consistent!

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