Adjunct Assistant Professor,
Biological Chemistry
B.S., University of Illinois
Ph.D., Purdue University
Postdoctoral, The Wistar Institute
Research Profile
The DNA of eukaryotes is packaged into chromatin by the wrapping of ~146 bp of DNA around a core histone octamer. This packaging serves to compact the DNA into the nucleus, but also presents a barrier to cellular processes, such as transcription, replication and repair, which require access to the DNA. Therefore, controlling access to the chromosomal DNA represents an important regulatory point for these processes. Two major classes of enzymes control access to chromatin. The first class includes enzymes that covalently modify the histones. Examples include acetyltransferases and deacetylases, methyltransferases and demethylases, kinases, and ubiquitin ligases. The second major class of enzymes uses the energy of ATP to alter the structure and/or location of the nucleosome. The targeting of these factors to chromatin determines the transcriptional output of a given gene. Control of these transcriptional events can subsequently coordinate cellular events such as apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation. Disruption of these events is critical to many pathologies including neoplastic transformation and developmental disorders. Indeed, several genes encoding components of chromatin regulatory complexes have been implicated as etiologic agents in many cancers and hereditary malformations.
Awards
1999 Ching Jer Chern Award, Wistar Inst. Best Scientific Publication
2001-2002 Christopher Davis Memorial Fellowship for Breast Cancer
2003-present University of Michigan Medical School Biological Scholar
2007-2011 Research Scholar Grant, American Cancer Society - GMC-114006
2007-2010 New Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Research Program, Department of the Army - PC061052
Selected Publications
Menon, T., J. A. Yates and D. A. Bochar. Regulation of Androgen-Responsive Transcription by the Chromatin Remodeling Factor CHD8. Mol Endocrinol.. 24, 1165-74. (2010). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20308527
Yates, J. A., T. Menon, B. A. Thompson, and D. A. Bochar. Regulation of HOXA2 gene expression by the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzyme CHD8. FEBS Lett. 584, 689-93. (2010). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20085832
Thompson, B. A., V. Tremblay, G. Lin, and D. A. Bochar. CHD8 is an ATP-dependent Chromatin Remodeling Factor That Regulates {beta}-catenin Target Genes. Mol Cell Biol. 28, 3894-3904 (2008). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18378692
Patel, P. D., D. A. Bochar, D. L. Turner, F. Meng, H. M. Mueller, C. G. Pontrello. Regulation of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene expression by a bipartite REST/NRSF binding motif. J Biol Chem. 282, 26717-24 (2007). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17613521
Lee, M. G., C. Wynder, D. A. Bochar, M. A. Hakimi, N. Cooch, and R. Shiekhattar. Functional interplay between histone demethylase and deacetylase enzymes. Mol Cell Biol. 26, 6395-6402 (2006). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16914725
Adams, M. M., B. Wang, Z. Xia, J. C. Morales, X. Lu, L. A. Donehower, D. A. Bochar, S. J. Elledge, and P. B. Carpenter. 53BP1 Oligomerization is Independent of its Methylation by PRMT1. Cell Cycle 4, 1854-1861 (2005). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16294047
Hakimi, M.-A., D. A. Bochar, J. A. Schmiesing, Y. Dong, O. G. Barak, D. W. Speicher, K. Yokomori, and R. Shiekhattar. A chromatin remodelling complex that loads cohesin onto human chromosomes. Nature 418, 994-998 (2002). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12198550
Bochar, D. A., Hakimi, M.-A., J. Chonoweth, W. S. Lane, G. Mandel, and R. Shiekhattar. A core-BRAF35 complex containing histone deacetylase mediates repression of neuronal-specific genes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 99, 7420-7425 (2002). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12032298
Bochar, D. A., L. Wang, H. Beniya, A. Kinev, Y. Xue, W. S. Lane, W. Wang, F. Kashanchi, and R. Shiekhattar. BRCA1 is Associated with a Human SWI/SNF-related Complex: Linking Chromatin Remodeling to Breast Cancer. Cell 102, 257-265 (2000). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10943845
Bochar, D. A., J. Savard, W. Wang, D. W. Lafleur, P. Moore, J. Cote, and R. Shiekhattar. A family of chromatin remodeling factors related to Williams syndrome transcription factor. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 97, 1038-1043 (2000). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10655480