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

Our research focuses on the mechanisms by which chromatin structure regulates gene expression. We are driven by the fact that misregulation of these mechanisms leads to several diseases such as cancer. Histone modifying enzymes like Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) and the recently discovered long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are two chromatin modulators whose role in the control of gene expression is still poorly understood. Therefore, the main objective of the lab is to identify the functional and regulatory pathways of PRMTs and lncRNAs. To accomplish this objective we use the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system because its genome and transcriptome are well characterized and it is amenable to high-throughput genetic techniques. We have recently established a synthetic genetic array approach in the lab with which we are trying to construct a genetic interaction network for the above chromatin modulators.

Involved in the project:

• Dimitris Kyriakou, PhD Student
• Demetria Pavlou, PhD Student
• Vassia Schiza, PhD student
• Dr Diego Molina Serrano, Post-doc
• Dr Emmanouil Stavrou, Post-doc