Research

Despite all cells in a multicellular organism sharing identical DNA sequences, their cellular identities are determined by epigenetic processes. The dysregulation of these processes plays a crucial role in pathologies, including cancer and developmental disorders.

Our main research interest is to understand how epigenetic regulation governs gene expression at the molecular level, with a focus on the role of chromatin-modifying enzymes. These enzymes can introduce post-translational modifications to chromatin, thereby altering its structure and function, which in turn regulates DNA accessibility and gene expression. Notably, these enzymes typically form multi-subunit protein complexes, and their enzymatic activity and recruitment to chromatin are modulated by cofactors such as DNA, RNA or proteins.

Our research focuses on addressing several key questions:

How are multi-subunit chromatin-modifying complexes assembled?
How are chromatin-modifying enzymes modulated by their cofactors?
How do chromatin-modifying complexes regulate gene expression and how do they become dysregulated in cancer?