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Patrick J. Murphy, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Research Labs

Faculty Appointments

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

7/12/2022
Chen S, Rosin LF, Pegoraro G, Moshkovich N, Murphy PJ, Yu G, Lei EP. "NURF301 contributes to gypsy chromatin insulator-mediated nuclear organization." Nucleic acids research.. 2022 Jul 12; Epub 2022 Jul 12.

1/4/2022
Hickey GJ, Wike CL, Nie X, Guo Y, Tan M, Murphy PJ, Cairns BR. "Establishment of developmental gene silencing by ordered polycomb complex recruitment in early zebrafish embryos." eLife.. 2022 Jan 4; 11Epub 2022 Jan 04.

12/18/2021
Ruff GL, Murphy KE, Smith ZR, Vertino PM, Murphy PJ. "Subtype-Independent ANP32E Reduction During Breast Cancer Progression in Accordance with Chromatin Relaxation." BMC cancer.. 2021 Dec 18; 21(1):1342. Epub 2021 Dec 18.

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

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