Ruth Keri, PhD, member of Case CCC's Molecular Oncology Program, and her colleagues have discovered that CDK7 is a core regulator of chromosomal architecture that functions, in part, by sustaining the expression of the condensin complex.
By conducting multiple studies, they discovered that CDK7 inhibition causes shifts in DNA looping that are also consistent with a loss in condensin activity. Overall, their results reveal a novel mechanism by which CDK7 maintains genome stability by ensuring sufficient condensin expression and proper chromatin folding during mitosis.