
Lucas T. Graybuck, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Lucas T. Graybuck (also published as Lucas T. Gray) currently works as a senior scientist on the Molecular Biology team in the Allen Institute for Immunology. He contributes to projects related to single-cell genomics to establish links between epigenetics, transcriptomics, and cell function.
Lucas joined the Allen Institute in 2014 to work in the Mouse Cell Types program. He was instrumental in projects related to cell type identification, labeling, and epigenetic perturbation for the Mouse Cell Types, Human Genetic Tools, and Epigenetic Control in Transgenic Mice projects.
Before joining the Allen Institute, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Nancy Maizels at the University of Washington. In this position, he studied the roles of G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures in human gene transcription, and the consequences of disordered expression of G4-unwinding DNA helicases BLM and WRN. His work also explored the genomic binding patterns of general transcription factor TFIIH helicases XPB and XPD, which also interact with G4 DNA.
He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in the lab of Dr. Alan Weiner at the University of Washington where he studied the domesticated piggyBac transposase fusion protein CSB-PGBD3. CSB-PGBD3 is found only in the genomes of simian primates, and appears to be conserved as a transcription factor. His work in the Weiner lab also included transcriptomic analysis of gene expression in cell lines from patients with Cockayne Syndrome, a genetic disorder with both neurodevelopmental and progeria-like symptoms, and conservation analysis of the neural-specific domesticated transposase PGBD5.
Expertise
- Transcriptomics
- Chromatin accessibility
- Genomics
- Data visualization
Research Programs
- Molecular Biology

Expertise
- Transcriptomics
- Chromatin accessibility
- Genomics
- Data visualization
Research Programs
- Molecular Biology
Selected Publications View Publications
Cell Reports
May 19, 2020
Ding SL, Yao Z, Hirokawa KE, Nguyen TN, Graybuck LT, Fong O, Bohn P, Ngo K, Smith KA, Koch C, Phillips JW, Lein ES, Harris JA, Tasic B, Zeng H
Integrated Morphoelectric and Transcriptomic Classification of Cortical GABAergic Cells
Cell
November 12, 2020
Gouwens NW, Sorensen SA, Baftizadeh F, Budzillo A, Lee BR, Jarsky T, Alfiler L, Baker K, Barkan E, Berry K, Bertagnolli D, Bickley K, Bomben J, Braun T, Brouner K, Casper T, Crichton K, Daigle TL, Dalley R, de Frates RA, Dee N, Desta T, Lee SD, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Ellingwood L, Enstrom R, Esposito L, Farrell C, Feng D, Fong O, Gala R, Gamlin C, Gary A, Glandon A, Goldy J, Gorham M, Graybuck L, Gu H, Hadley K, Hawrylycz MJ, Henry AM, Hill D, Hupp M, Kebede S, Kim TK, Kim L, Kroll M, Lee C, Link KE, Mallory M, Mann R, Maxwell M, McGraw M, McMillen D, Mukora A, Ng L, Ng L, Ngo K, Nicovich PR, Oldre A, Park D, Peng H, Penn O, Pham T, Pom A, Popović Z, Potekhina L, Rajanbabu R, Ransford S, Reid D, Rimorin C, Robertson M, Ronellenfitch K, Ruiz A, Sandman D, Smith K, Sulc J, Sunkin SM, Szafer A, Tieu M, Torkelson A, Trinh J, Tung H, Wakeman W, Ward K, Williams G, Zhou Z, Ting JT, Arkhipov A, Sümbül U, Lein ES, Koch C, Yao Z, Tasic B, Berg J, Murphy GJ, Zeng H
Conserved cell types with divergent features in human versus mouse cortex
Nature
August 21, 2019
Hodge RD, Bakken TE, Miller JA, Smith KA, Barkan ER, Graybuck LT, Close JL, Long B, Johansen N, Penn O, Yao Z, Eggermont J, Höllt T, Levi BP, Shehata SI, Aevermann B, Beller A, Bertagnolli D, Brouner K, Casper T, Cobbs C, Dalley R, Dee N, Ding SL, Ellenbogen RG, Fong O, Garren E, Goldy J, Gwinn RP, Hirschstein D, Keene CD, Keshk M, Ko AL, Lathia K, Mahfouz A, Maltzer Z, McGraw M, Nguyen TN, Nyhus J, Ojemann JG, Oldre A, Parry S, Reynolds S, Rimorin C, Shapovalova NV, Somasundaram S, Szafer A, Thomsen ER, Tieu M, Quon G, Scheuermann RH, Yuste R, Sunkin SM, Lelieveldt B, Feng D, Ng L, Bernard A, Hawrylycz M, Phillips JW, Tasic B, Zeng H, Jones AR, Koch C, Lein ES
Epigenetic landscape and AAV targeting of human neocortical cell classes
bioRxiv
February 19, 2019
Mich JK, Hess EE, Graybuck LT, Somasundaram S, Miller JA, Ding Y, Shapovalova NV, Fong O, Yao S, Mortrud M, Chong P, Bertagnolli D, Goldy J, Casper T, Kroll M, Hodge RD, Bakken TE, Yao Z, Dee N, Cetin A, Smith KA, Gwinn RP, Cobbs C, Ko AL, Ojemann JG, Keene CD, Silbergeld DL, Gradinaru V, Sunkin SM, Zeng H, Lein ES, Tasic B, Ting JT, Levi BP
Transcriptomic evidence for dense peptidergic neuromodulation networks in mouse cortex
bioRxiv
January 13, 2019
Smith SJ, Sumbul U, Graybuck LT, Collman F, Sharmishtaa S, Gala R, Gliko O, Elabbady L, Miller J, Bakken T, Yao Z, Lein ES, Zeng H, Tasic B, Hawrylycz M
Single-cell transcriptomic evidence for dense intracortical neuropeptide networks.
eLife
November 11, 2019
Smith SJ, Sümbül U, Graybuck LT, Collman F, Seshamani S, Gala R, Gliko O, Elabbady L, Miller JA, Bakken TE, Rossier J, Yao Z, Lein E, Zeng H, Tasic B, Hawrylycz M
Multimodal Analysis of Cell Types in a Hypothalamic Node Controlling Social Behavior
Cell
October 17, 2019
Kim DW, Yao Z, Graybuck LT, Kim TK, Nguyen TN, Smith KA, Fong O, Yi L, Koulena N, Pierson N, Shah S, Lo L, Pool AH, Oka Y, Pachter L, Cai L, Tasic B, Zeng H, Anderson DJ
Cell
July 12, 2018
Daigle TL, Madisen L, Hage TA, Valley MT, Knoblich U, Larsen RS, Takeno MM, Huang L, Gu H, Larsen R, Mills M, Bosma-Moody A, Siverts LA, Walker M, Graybuck LT, Yao Z, Fong O, Nguyen TN, Garren E, Lenz GH, Chavarha M, Pendergraft J, Harrington J, Hirokawa KE, Harris JA, Nicovich PR, McGraw MJ, Ollerenshaw DR, Smith KA, Baker CA, Ting JT, Sunkin SM, Lecoq J, Lin MZ2, Boyden ES, Murphy GJ, da Costa NM, Waters J, Li L, Tasic B, Zeng H
Single-cell profiling of the developing mouse brain and spinal cord with split-pool barcoding
Science
March 15, 2018
Rosenberg AB, Roco CM, Muscat RA, Kuchina A, Sample P, Yao Z, Gray L, Peeler DJ, Mukherjee S, Chen W, Pun SH, Sellers DL, Tasic B, Seelig G
Single-nucleus and single-cell transcriptomes compared in matched cortical cell types
PLoS One
December 26, 2018
Bakken TE, Hodge RD, Miller JA, Yao Z, Nguyen TN, Aevermann B, Barkan E, Bertagnolli D, Casper T, Dee N, Garren E, Goldy J, Graybuck LT, Kroll M, Lasken RS, Lathia K, Parry S, Rimorin C, Scheuermann RH, Schork NJ, Shehata SI, Tieu M, Phillips JW, Bernard A, Smith KA, Zeng H, Lein ES, Tasic B
Distinct descending motor cortex pathways and their roles in movement
Nature
October 31, 2018
Economo MN, Viswanathan S, Tasic B, Bas E, Winnubst J, Menon V, Graybuck LT, Nguyen TN, Smith KA, Yao Z, Wang L, Gerfen CR, Chandrashekar J, Zeng H, Looger LL, Svoboda K
Shared and distinct transcriptomic cell types across neocortical areas
Nature
October 31, 2018
Tasic B, Yao Z, Graybuck LT, Smith KA, Nguyen TN, Bertagnolli D, Goldy J, Garren E, Economo MN, Viswanathan S, Penn O, Bakken T, Menon V, Miller J, Fong O, Hirokawa KE, Lathia K, Rimorin C, Tieu M, Larsen R, Casper T, Barkan E, Kroll M, Parry S, Shapovalova NV, Hirschstein D, Pendergraft J, Sullivan HA, Kim TK, Szafer A, Dee N, Groblewski P, Wickersham I, Cetin A, Harris JA, Levi BP, Sunkin SM, Madisen L, Daigle TL, Looger L, Bernard A, Phillips J, Lein E, Hawrylycz M, Svoboda K, Jones AR, Koch C, Zeng H
eLife
January 23, 2017
Gray LT, Yao Z, Nguyen TN, Kim TK, Zeng H, Tasic B
The Werner syndrome RECQ helicase targets G4 DNA in human cells to modulate transcription
Human Molecular Genetics
May 15, 2016
Tang W, Robles AI, Beyer RP, Gray LT, Nguyen GH, Oshima J, Maizels N, Harris CC, Monnat RJ Jr
Adult mouse cortical cell taxonomy revealed by single cell transcriptomics
Nature Neuroscience
January 4, 2016
Tasic B, Menon V, Nguyen TN, Kim TK, Jarsky T, Yao Z, Levi B1, Gray LT, Sorensen SA, Dolbeare T, Bertagnolli D, Goldy J, Shapovalova N, Parry S, Lee C, Smith K, Bernard A, Madisen L, Sunkin SM, Hawrylycz M, Koch C, Zeng H
G quadruplexes are genomewide targets of transcriptional helicases XPB and XPD
Nature Chemical Biology
April 2014
Gray LT, Vallur AC, Eddy J, Maizels N
Mobile DNA
November 1, 2013
Pavelitz T, Gray LT, Padilla SL, Bailey AD, Weiner AM
PLos Genetics
September 2012
Gray LT, Fong KK, Pavelitz T, Weiner AM