Most people who have a balanced translocation have the right amount of chromosome material but it has been rearranged in some way. This may happen if two chromosomes swap pieces (a reciprocal translocation). In other cases two whole chromosomes may become stuck together (a Robertsonian translocation). This page describes what happens when someone has a reciprocal translocation.

Reciprocal chromosomal translocations occur following double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA when a section of one chromosome is exchanged with that of another, non-homologous chromosome. These exchanges may produce a dysfunctional fusion gene that disrupts cell growth and survival pathways, such as the translocations seen in leukemia and childhood sarcomas.

Chromosomal translocations have been well studied in cancer cell lines which are associated with two types of cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and Ewing's sarcoma, but determining how they contribute to cancer development is complicated by additional mutations and altered gene expression profiles in these cultured cells. Now, Juan Carlos Ramirez, head of the Viral Vector Facility at the Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and his colleagues Raul Torres at CNIC and Sandra Rodriguez-Peralez at the Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain have used a new genome editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, to induce chromosomal translocations for the first time in a human cell line and in primary cells. The study's authors conclude by stating that the use of this technology will allow for the clarification of how and why chromosomal translocation occurs, which without doubt will allow new anti-cancer therapeutic strategies to be tackled.

Using RNA-Guided Endonuclease (RGEN) technology or CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technology, CNIO and CNIC researchers have shown that it is possible to obtain such chromosomal translocations. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is extremely simple to introduce a cut at the desired locus, easier to design, and cheaper than many other systems. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, Ramirez and his colleagues reproduced the translocations observed in Ewing’s Sarcoma (ES) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patient cell lines in HEK293 cells and also generated the ES translocation in human mesenchymal stem cells and the AML translocation in umbilical cord blood cells.

By focusing on chromosomal translocation without the confounding characteristics of established cell lines, these new cells lines should help answer the fundamental question of what causes a cell to become cancerous. Ramirez and his team now look forward to modeling other chromosome translocations in a variety of cell types.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosomal_translocation

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140603/ncomms4964/abs/ncomms4964.html

 https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/article/34/15/2666/4934939

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/wdecoster/nanoQC

Brief description: We are looking for suitable candidates in the area o computational biology/bioinformatics/genomics or related field for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis for small-RNAs, RNA-Seq and targeted resequencing of plants and associated organisms. We are an interdisciplinary group where projects equally involve bioinformatics and systems biology (specially microarrays and next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis and its use), along with plant molecular biology, genetic engineering, field biology, and analytical plant chemistry for understanding response of plants to biotic stresses.

Essential qualification: MSc/BTech/MTech/PhD (or other suitable qualification) in disciplines preferable to bioinformatics, computational biology, computer application (or equivalent)/ ‘Advance Post-Graduate Diploma in Bioinformatics’. Proficiency in programming languages (such as Perl, C++) and/or statistics (proficient in R for example) is compulsory.

Desirable qualification: Experience in the field of genomics e.g. microarray analysis, NGS, genome annotation, database development and management, software development, systems and network biology (or related fields) will be preferred.

Application process: Applications should contain CV along with brief description (maximum 1 page) of research conducted (highlighting skills and experience) till now. Applications should be sent by e-mail to Shree Prakash Pandey, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur Campus, WB, India within 14 days of this advertisement.

E-mail: sppiiserkol@gmail.com, sppandey@iiserkol.ac.in

Advertisement:

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https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/gb-2007-8-3-r34

Address of the bookmark: http://amos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Hawkeye

https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/47/11/e63/5377471

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/linzhi2013/MitoZ

CSIR-IICT is conducting Walk in Interview for the following position on a purely temporary basis for the sponsored project "GENESIS (BSC-0121) at 10.00 AM on 19th August 2014 at IICT, Hyderabad

Position : Research Associate
No of Post : One
Desired Profile : PhD in computation biology or M.Tech in Computational Biology with three years experience in relevant subject and atleast one research paper in SCI journal

Experience : Knowledge in vector and vector borne disease, disease modeling, GIS mapping and modeling.
Age : 35 years
Stipend : Rs 22000/- + HRA

Eligible candidate may download the application form from our website http://www.iictindia.org and appear for interview along with the duly filled in application form supported by bio-data and one set of attested photo copies of certificates of educational qualification, age, experience, caste, latest photograph and the cadndidates are required to bring all the original certificates for verification

Walk in Interview : 19.08.14

Address of the bookmark: https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/article/39/12/btad719/7460198?login=false