Abigail (Abby) Buchwalter Cool, PhD

We seek to understand how the organization of the cell nucleus is established, specialized across cell types, and maintained over time to influence cellular identity. "Nuclear organization" involves the non-random packaging of the genome within the nucleus, but also the assembly and interactions of other nuclear structures, such as the nuclear lamina and the nucleolus.

This work begins with a particular focus on the nuclear lamina, a nuclear structure that is essential for mammalian development and is mutated in ~15 "laminopathy" diseases that afflict the heart, muscle, bone, fat, and nervous system. We focus on three main thematic areas: (i) defining the essential roles that the nuclear lamina plays in nuclear organization, (ii) exploring disruption of nuclear organization as a possible cellular mechanism of aging, and (iii) determining how nuclear organization is maintained or, alternatively, remodeled, over time. We use cell biology, biochemistry, and systems biology to answer these questions.