Histone kinase
BALL
A kinome wide screen identified Ballchen as a factor in trxG mediated gene activation. Later work connected BALL and CBP to H3K27 acetylation at active genes.
Read the research ↗The biology of cellular identity
How cells keep their identity
Every cell carries essentially the same genome. What makes a neuron different from a muscle cell and keeps it that way?
Epigenetic cell memory is a crucial process that ensures cells remember their identity. Cell identities depend on patterns of gene expression passed on as cells divide. The maintenance of distinct cellular identity is governed by two evolutionary conserved groups of genes: the Polycomb group (PcG) and trithorax group (trxG) proteins. The PcG proteins help maintain gene repression, while trxG proteins help maintain gene activation. We investigate how these systems preserve transcriptional memory during development.
Using Drosophila melanogaster, cell-based reporter assays, genetics, functional genomics and molecular approaches, we identify the factors that shape this memory and ask how signaling pathways influence it.
Research themes
01
Maintaining gene activation
How do trxG proteins and their partners keep developmental genes active through successive cell divisions?
02
Balancing activation and repression
How do PcG and trxG systems interact and prevent each other from maintaining activation or repression, respectively?
03
Connecting signals to memory
Which cell signaling pathways modulate the chromatin regulators that maintain cell fate?
From screens to mechanisms
Our cell based reporter enabled ex vivo kinome-wide and genome-wide RNAi screens. Follow up work has established new roles for these factors in gene regulation.
Hippo pathway and trxG
MASK
Mask exhibits trxG like behavior and associates with H3K27ac marked chromatin, pointing to a link between gene activation and a protein also known for signaling roles.
Read the research ↗Protein folding
CCT7
Research on the chaperonin subunit CCT7 revealed an interaction with Polycomb that contributes to the maintenance of gene silencing in flies.
Read the research ↗Genome wide screen
ENOK
Our genome wide RNAi screen identified Enok as a trithorax group regulator, extending the set of factors involved in keeping target genes active.
Read the research ↗