Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have developed a new method called PARTAGE that can provide a clearer picture of how genomes are regulated and disrupted in diseases such as cancer. The results of this research have recently Genome research.
PARTAGE allows researchers to measure three key features of the genome from the same sample: when DNA is replicated, changes in DNA copy number, and gene activity. Traditionally, these processes have been studied in separate experiments, making it difficult to understand how cells coordinate these processes.
PARTAGE allows researchers to connect DNA replication, genomic changes, and gene activity in a single experiment, providing a more complete view of how the genome is regulated and how it changes in diseases such as cancer cells. This study may help identify new biomarkers and uncover potential therapeutic targets. ”
Dr. Juan Carlos Rivera Muria, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Principal Investigator
The researchers found that PARTAGE produced results as accurate as current gold standard methods performed independently. The method also shows a strong link between early DNA replication and active gene expression, and accurately detects genomic changes such as extra or missing parts of DNA in cancer cells. Looking ahead, the researchers plan to apply PARTAGE to cancer models.
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35GM137950, R35GM137950-02S1, and R35GM137950-04S1), Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (RMM-091621-DS-006), and the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. The study was led by co-lead authors Rakshana Sruthi Sadhu Murali and Quinn Dickinson, with contributions from former postdoctoral researcher Sylvia Mayer Nava.
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University of Minnesota School of Medicine
Reference magazines:
Sadhu Murali, LS; Others. (2026). Parallel analysis of replication timing, gene expression, and copy number using PARTAGE. genome research. DOI: 10.1101/gr.281532.125. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/36/4/802
