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

Our research focuses on a protein complex named cohesin that occupies a central position in proliferation and differentiation, two processes that are required for proper development of a multicellular organism. On the one hand, cohesin mediates sister chromatid cohesion and thereby ensures faithful DNA repair by homologous recombination and proper chromosome segregation during cell division. On the other hand, cohesin contributes to the spatial organisation of the genome most likely by promoting or stabilising the formation of chromatin loops. We hypothesize that such three-dimensional chromatin organization is crucial to establish tissue- and time-specific transcriptional programs. In addition to the study of cohesin, we are interested in the epigenetic inheritance of centromeres mediated by the histone H3 variant CENP-A, another essential aspect of chromosome segregation. Four our studies on cohesin and CENP-A we use human tissue culture cells, mouse models and Xenopus egg extracts.

Cohesin team:

• Ana Cuadrado (staff scientist)
• Miguel Ruiz-Torres (PhD student)

CENP-A team:

• Samantha Williams (PhD student)
• Iva Krizaic (PhD student)

Miriam Rodríguez Corsino is our lab tech. She participates in every project.