Dean Tantin

Biography

Dean Tantin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah and a member of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Tantin studies gene expression and its relationship to immune and stem cell function, and malignancy. He focuses on a class of transcription factors that have been tied to cellular reprogramming and immune function. The proteins are called Oct1, Oct2, and Oct4. These proteins affect cellular physiology and differentiation state through control of metabolism and through control of poised (silent but readily inducible) gene expression states. They interact with multiple cofactors that control local chromatin and gene expression. Tantin received a B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. from the UCLA Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Ph.D. program. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Reseach and Department of Biology under Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp. Dean Tantin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah and a member of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Tantin studies gene expression and its relationship to immune and stem cell function, and malignancy. He focuses on a class of transcription factors that have been tied to cellular reprogramming and immune function. The proteins are called Oct1, Oct2, and Oct4. These proteins affect cellular physiology and differentiation state through control of metabolism and through control of poised (silent but readily inducible) gene expression states. They interact with multiple cofactors that control local chromatin and gene expression. Tantin received a B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. from the UCLA Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Ph.D. program. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Reseach and Department of Biology under Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp.

Research Interest

Gene Regulation Development and Regulation of Immune Responses Stem Cells Transcriptional Control of Malignant State