Patrick J. Murphy, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Research Labs

Visit Lab Website

Locations

University of Rochester Medical Center
School of Medicine and Dentistry
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 633
Rochester, NY 14642

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

6/10/2020
Murphy PJ, Guo J, Jenkins TG, James ER, Hoidal JR, Huecksteadt T, Broberg DS, Hotaling JM, Alonso DF, Carrell DT, Cairns BR, Aston KI. "NRF2 loss recapitulates heritable impacts of paternal cigarette smoke exposure." PLoS genetics.. 2020 Jun 10; 16(6):e1008756. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

9/30/2019
Rougeot J, Chrispijn ND, Aben M, Elurbe DM, Andralojc KM, Murphy PJ, Jansen PWTC, Vermeulen M, Cairns BR, Kamminga LM. "Maintenance of spatial gene expression by Polycomb-mediated repression after formation of a vertebrate body plan." Development.. 2019 Sep 30; 146(19)Epub 2019 Sep 30.

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.

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

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Visitor Restrictions, Resources, and Updates