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

One of the most important questions of modern biology is to understand how cells of a multicellular organism acquire and maintain a coherent identity through differentiation. This information cannot be in the DNA sequence and therefore qualifies as epigenetic. Chromatin and DNA methylation have proven instrumental in parental imprint and X chromosome inactivation, yet their exact contribution to differentiation is still obscure.

In the current view, the activity of regulatory sequence is thought to impose a unique gene expression signature. The regulatory genome is thus the repository of cellular identity and memory. However, how regulatory sequences go from inactive to active and vice versa is still poorly understood.

The aim of this project is to understand the respective role of DNA sequence and chromatin in enhancers formation and shutdown.

People involved in the research:

Dr Olivera Vujatovic (PhD)