An ambitious EC-funded research initiative on epigenetics advancing towards systems biology

One of the major goals of post-genomic biology is to understand the molecular basis and physiological role of covalent protein modifications. We are using the "histone code" as a model to study novel multi-site protein modifications. The complexity and diversity of histone modifications add largely to the capacity of the genome to store and process information. We are currently only beginning to understand the many implications of this epigenetic information for biology and disease. Interestingly, histone modifying enzymes have been found to be rearranged, mutated or deleted in cancer cells and small molecule inhibitors are effective in clinical trials.
 Our aim is to identify new histone modifications, to decipher how these modifications are inherited, how they regulate gene expression/chromatin dynamics and in particular their role in disease processes. Whilst it is still under discussion if histone modifications form a true "code", it has now been established that changes of histone modifications (and of the ”readers”) are involved in the regulation of all genes and can affect all biological processes. Therefore the significance of studying chromatin modifications extends far beyond the field of chromatin research.

• Adam Kebede, PhD student
• Burcu Biterge, PhD student