Dr Jan Huertas

Dr Huertas is using multiscale molecular dynamics to study the regulation of chromatin function and structure. He is always looking for new collaborations in which multiscale modeling can be used for understanding the role of chromatin architecture in gene regulation. His main project is now on how a subset of transcription factors, called pioneer transcription factors, alter chromatin behavior. Especially, his work focuses on the properties that govern the phase behaviour of nucleoprotein complexes, to understand the role of the liquid-liquid phase separation in the control of gene expression.

Dr Huertas studied a BSc in Human Biology in Barcelona, at Pompeu Fabra University. He also studied an MSc in Bioinformatics for Health Sciences at the same university. He then moved to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, in Münster, Germany, where he did a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry titled 'Structural dynamics of Nucleosomes bound by the Pioneer Transcription Factor Oct4'. After graduating in 2021, he moved to Cambridge, where he joined the group of Professor Rosana Collepardo-Guevara.

MacCarthy, CM and Huertas, J […] Schöler, HR, Cojocaru, V. OCT4 interprets and enhances nucleosome flexibility. Nucleic Acids Research, gkac755 (2022). Co-first author

Huertas, J, Woods E. Collepardo-Guevara R. Multiscale modelling of chromatin organisation: Resolving nucleosomes at near-atomistic resolution inside genes. Current Opinion in Cell Biology. 75, 102067 (2022).

Huertas, J, Cojocaru, V. Breaths, twists, and turns of atomistic nucleosomes. J. Mol. Biol. 433, 166744 (2021).

Huertas, J, Schöler, HR, Cojocaru, V. Histone tails cooperate to control the breathing of genomic nucleosomes. PLoS Computational Biology. 17(6):e1009013 (2021).

Huertas, J, MacCarthy, CM, Schöler, HR, Cojocaru, V. Nucleosomal DNA Dynamics Mediate Oct4 Pioneer Factor Binding. Biophys. J. 118, 2280–2296 (2020).