Patrick J. Murphy, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Faculty Appointments

Assistant Professor - Department of Biomedical Genetics (SMD)
Assistant Professor - Department of Biology RC (RC) - Joint

Biography

Research

The Murphy lab investigates the mechanisms that activate or silence genes as cells transition from one state to another. In very early embryos, stem cells begin to divide and change. Through this process, called differentiation, tissues start to form, and all the cell types of the organism begin to arise. Differentiation relies on a highly coordinated series of gene activation and silencing events. As cells divide during differentiation, changes in gene expression provide each cell type with a specific identity and function. In a similar sense, when the gene expression patterns of normal adult cells change inappropriately, the cell identity also changes, and this can lead to carcinogenesis. Presently, it is unknown what molecular machinery allows a cell to transition from one gene expression state to another.

Publications

Journal Articles

2/22/2018
Murphy PJ, Wu SF, James CR, Wike CL, Cairns BR. "Placeholder Nucleosomes Underlie Germline-to-Embryo DNA Methylation Reprogramming." Cell.. 2018 Feb 22; 172(5):993-1006.e13. Epub 2018 Feb 15.

11/2017
Jenkins TG, James ER, Alonso DF, Hoidal JR, Murphy PJ, Hotaling JM, Cairns BR, Carrell DT, Aston KI. "Cigarette smoking significantly alters sperm DNA methylation patterns." Andrology.. 2017 Nov 0; 5(6):1089-1099. Epub 2017 Sep 26.

10/5/2017
Guo J, Grow EJ, Yi C, Mlcochova H, Maher GJ, Lindskog C, Murphy PJ, Wike CL, Carrell DT, Goriely A, Hotaling JM, Cairns BR. "Chromatin and Single-Cell RNA-Seq Profiling Reveal Dynamic Signaling and Metabolic Transitions during Human Spermatogonial Stem Cell Development." Cell stem cell.. 2017 Oct 5; 21(4):533-546.e6.

Books & Chapters

2014
Chapter Title: Epigenetic Changes in the Paternal Germline
Book Title: Transgenerational Epigenetics : Evidence and Debate
Author List: Murphy KE, Murphy PJ, and Carrell DT
Edited By: T. Tollefsbol
Published By: Oxford: Academic Press 2014

VIEW ALL PUBLICATIONS