How chromosomes' 3D folding responds to physical stress in health and cancer
Official title: Folding, Misfolding, and Unfolding: How human 3D genome structure resists, adapts, or succumbs to physical stresses in health and disease
Funded at University of Tennessee Knoxville · NIH-11175317 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are looking at how the 3D folding of chromosomes in human cells changes when cells face physical stresses, to help people with cancer and related conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tennessee Knoxville NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Knoxville, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2019 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $405,773 |
| NIH project number | 5R35GM133557-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11175317 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This is primarily laboratory research and does not enroll patients, though people with cancer or lamin-related disorders might be invited to provide tissue or data for related sample-collection efforts.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate treatment should not expect direct clinical benefit because the grant funds basic science rather than a therapeutic trial.
What this research studies
This project uses lab-grown human cells, advanced genome-mapping (3C-based) methods, and high-resolution microscopy to see how chromosomes fold inside the cell nucleus and how that folding changes after DNA damage, lamin gene mutations, squeezing through tight spaces, or repeated physical forces. The team compares short-term versus chronic stresses and looks for which levels of chromosome structure are robust or permanently altered. By linking 3D-genome changes to gene activity and cell behavior, the work aims to explain how mechanical stress can influence cell fate in cancer and other diseases. Results may point to new biomarkers or targets for future therapies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal how physical stress leads to lasting genome changes that contribute to cancer, pointing toward new ways to detect or target disease.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work has shown chromosomes can resist many short-term perturbations while chronic or repeated stresses can produce stable 3D-genome changes, so this builds on promising preliminary findings.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Knoxville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mccord, Rachel Patton — University of Tennessee Knoxville
- Study coordinator: Mccord, Rachel Patton
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.