Victor Corces

Victor Corces (born August 16, 1952, in Asturias, Spain) is a Professor of Human Genetics at Emory University. His work has focused on understanding the mechanisms by which chromosomes are folded in the three-dimensional nuclear space. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences ^[1] for pioneering work in epigenetics, genomics, and computational biology. He is also a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences.

Education

Corces obtained a BS in Chemistry at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain in 1975. He obtained a PhD in Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 1978. He carried out postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Mathew Meselson in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University.

Research and career

Corces was Assistant, Associate and Full Professor in the Department of Biology at the Johns Hopkins University between 1982 and 2007. He was the Chair of the Biology Department from 1998 to 2003. He is responsible for the identification of the first type of a DNA sequence called insulator element ^[2] and the identification and characterization of proteins that bind to this sequence in Drosophila ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} . Using cellular and molecular approaches, he found that insulator sequences and their associated proteins form loops in the cell nucleus ^{[7] [8]} . Based on these results, he proposed that the role of insulator sequences is to organize the three-dimensional architecture of the DNA in the nucleus.

Corces moved to Emory University in 2007, where he is currently the William P. Timmie Professor of Human Genetics in the School of Medicine. While at Emory, Corces used chromosome conformation capture to describe the subdivision of chromosomes into self-associating domains, and he used the heat shock response as a paradigm to study the relationship between 3D organization and gene expression ^{[9] [10] [11]} . He also contributed to the development of new computational tools, including tools to analyze 5C and Hi-C data and to map CTCF loops ^{[9] [12] [13]} . He used mouse models and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to approach questions on the functional role of chromatin 3D organization, including the role of CTCF and cohesin during the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into neurons and pancreatic cells ^{[14] [15] [16]} . He also showed that DNA hemimethylation is inherited through cell division and serves to regulate CTCF and cohesin function in ESCs ^[17] . Work from his lab suggests that sperm chromatin may not be as inert as previously thought, and that RNAPII, CTCF, and transcription factors remain bound to the sperm genome creating a 3D configuration very similar to that found in embryonic stem cells ^{[18] [19]} . This has led us to the idea that environmental insults may affect the distribution of transcription factors in the germ line, and that these alterations may be transmitted to the progeny causing defects in cell differentiation leading to disease states ^[20] . His lab has studied the effects of BPA on chromatin structure and organization in the gametes and their effect in the development of obesity. Based on results from this work, his lab found that exposure to BPA results in epigenetic modifications in the Fto gene at enhancers found to be affected by sequence variants in humans ^[21] .

References

1. Drash, Wayne (5 May 2020). "Emory's Victor Corces elected to prestigious National Academy of Sciences". news.emory.edu. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
2. Parkhurst, SM; Corces, VG (June 1985). "Forked, gypsys, and suppressors in Drosophila" (PDF). Cell. 41 (2): 429–437 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
3. Geyer, PK; Corces, VG (October 1992). "DNA position-specific repression of transcription by a Drosophila zinc finger protein" (PDF). Genes Dev. 6 (10): 1865–1873 – via Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
4. Gerasimova, TI; Gdula, DA; Gerasimov, DV; Simonova, O; Corces, VG (August 1995). "A Drosophila protein that imparts directionality on a chromatin insulator is an enhancer of position-effect variegation" (PDF). Cell. 82 (4): 587–597 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
5. Gerasimova, TI; Corces, VG (February 1998). "Polycomb and trithorax group proteins mediate the function of a chromatin insulator" (PDF). Cell. 92 (4): 511–521 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
6. Pai, C-Y; Lei, EP; Ghosh, D; Corces, VG (December 2004). "The centrosomal protein CP190 is a component of the gypsy chromatin insulator" (PDF). Mol Cell. 16 (5): 737–748 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
7. Gerasimova, TI; Byrd, K; Corces, VG (November 2000). "A chromatin insulator determines the nuclear localization of DNA" (PDF). Molecular Cell. 6 (5): 1025–1035 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
8. Byrd, K; Corces, VG (August 2003). "Visualization of chromatin domains created by the gypsy insulator of Drosophila". J Cell Bio. 162 (4): 565–574 – via Rockefeller University Press.
9. Hou, C; Li, L; Qin, ZS; Corces, VG (November 2012). "Gene density, transcription, and insulators contribute to the partition of the Drosophila genome into physical domains" (PDF). Mol Cell. 48 (3): 471–484 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
10. Li L, Lyu X, Hou C, Takenaka N, Nguyen HQ, Ong CT, Cubeñas-Potts C, Hu M, Lei EP, Bosco G, Qin ZS, Corces VG (April 2015). "Widespread Rearrangement of 3D Chromatin Organization Underlies Polycomb-Mediated Stress-Induced Silencing" (PDF). Mol Cell. 58 (2): 216–231 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
11. Lyu X, Rowley MJ, Corces VG (September 2018). "Architectural Proteins and Pluripotency Factors Cooperate to Orchestrate the Transcriptional Response of hESCs to Temperature Stress" (PDF). Mol Cell. 71 (6): 940–955 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
12. Sauria, MEG, Phillips-Cremins, JE, Corces, VG, Taylor, J (October 2015). "HiFive: A tool suite for easy and efficient HiC and 5C data analysis". Genome Biol. 24 (16): DOI 10.1186/s13059-015-0806-y – via BMC.
13. Rowley, MJ; Poulet, A; Nichols, MH; Bixler, BJ; Sanborn, A L; Brouhard, E A; Hermetz, K; Linsenbaum, H; Csankovszki, G; Lieberman Aiden, E; Corces, VG (March 2020). "Analysis of Hi-C data using SIP effectively identifies loops in organisms from C. elegans to mammals" (PDF). Genome Res. 30 (3): 447–458 – via Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
14. Phillips-Cremins JE, Sauria ME, Sanyal A, Gerasimova TI, Lajoie BR, Bell JS, Ong CT, Hookway TA, Guo C, Sun Y, Bland MJ, Wagstaff W, Dalton S, McDevitt TC, Sen R, Dekker J, Taylor J, Corces VG (June 2013). "Architectural protein subclasses shape 3D organization of genomes during lineage commitment" (PDF). Cell. 53 (6): 1281–1295 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
15. Rowley, MJ; Nichols, MH; Lyu, X; Ando-Kuri, M; Rivera, ISM; Hermetz, K; Wang, P; Ruan, Y; Corces, VG (September 2017). "Evolutionarily Conserved Principles Predict 3D Chromatin Organization" (PDF). Mol Cell. 67 (5): 837–852 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
16. Lyu, X; Rowley, MJ; Kulik, M; Dalton, S; Corces, VG (October 2023). "Regulation of CTCF loop formation during pancreatic cell differentiation". Nat Commun. 14 (1): doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41964-6 – via Nature Portfolio.
17. Xu C; Corces VG (March 2018). "Nascent DNA methylome mapping reveals inheritance of hemimethylation at CTCF/cohesin sites". Science. 359 (6380): 1166–1170 – via American Association for the Advancement of Science.
18. Jung, YH; Sauria, MEG; Lyu, X; Cheema, MS; Ausio, J; Taylor, J; Corces, VG (February 2017). "Chromatin States in Mouse Sperm Correlate with Embryonic and Adult Regulatory Landscapes" (PDF). Cell Rep. 18 (6): 1366–1382 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
19. Jung, YH; Kremsky, I; Gold, HB; Rowley, MJ; Punyawai, K; Buonanotte, A; Lyu, X; Bixler, BJ; Chan, AWS; Corces VG (July 2019). "Maintenance of CTCF- and Transcription Factor-Mediated Interactions from the Gametes to the Early Mouse Embryo" (PDF). Mol Cell. 75 (1): 154–171 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
20. Escher, J; Yan, W; Rissman, EF; Wang, HV; Hernandez, A; Corces, VG (October 2022). "Beyond Genes: Germline Disruption in the Etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders". J Autism Dev Disord. 52 (10): 4608–4624 – via Springer Nature Link.
21. Jung, YH; Wang, HV; Ruiz, D; Bixler, BJ; Linsenbaum, H; Xiang, JF; Forestier, S; Shafik, AM; Jin, P; Corces, VG (December 2023). "Recruitment of CTCF to an Fto enhancer is responsible for transgenerational inheritance of BPA-induced obesity". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 119 (50): doi: 10.1073/pnas.2214988119 – via National Academy of Sciences.