Molecular Patterns that Link the DNA Damage and Immune Responses

special seminar of the

Human Genetics and Computational Medicine

By:

Prof. Roger Greenberg

J. Samuel Staub M.D. Professor, Department of Cancer Biology;
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Title:

Molecular Patterns that Link the DNA Damage and Immune Responses

Molecular pattern recognition of aberrant DNA or RNA structures is a shared feature of the DNA damage and innate immune responses. The DNA damage response has evolved to rapidly recognize myriad DNA lesions in the nucleus and execute high fidelity repair mechanisms. The innate immune system is heavily reliant on pattern recognition of DNA and double-stranded RNA in the cytoplasm, which enacts transcriptional responses known as interferon stimulated gene expression that attracts innate immune responses to provide robust protection against invasive bacteria and viruses. Interestingly genomic DNA damage triggers innate immune responses through detection of endogenous double-stranded DNA and RNA in the cytoplasm (Harding et al. Nature 2017; Chen et al. Cell Reports 2020). There are many biological implications to this “viral mimicry”, which contributes to autoimmunity, aging, cancer etiology, and therapeutic response to DNA damaging and immunotherapies. The focus of this seminar is on unpublished methods developed by my laboratory that have allowed us to identify sources of immunogenic nucleic acids and underlying mechanisms responsible for their genesis following DNA damaging radio- and chemo- therapies.

Light refreshments will be served from 12:45

Wednesday, January 7ᵗʰ, 2026

Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Hall 201