Chromatin-based gene regulation and cellular memory
The genetic information is stored in the DNA sequence of our genome. But did you know that the histones, the proteins that package DNA as chromatin in the nucleus, also carries important information; - information on how the genes should be expressed. The information is stored in the form of biochemical modifications of certain amino acids in the histones. Methylation of lysine 9 on histone H3, for instance, indicates that the gene is supposed to be silent. If the same amino acid is acetylated, it is a sign that the gene is active.
Our research
In our research group, we study enzymes that modify the histones and proteins that recognise such modifications. Such proteins play a key role in the proper regulation of gene expression.
Since some of the histone modifications are copied and propagated through many cell generations, these modifications may serve as a medium for "cellular memory". This phenomenon is known as epigenetic gene regulation.
The illustration shows a structure model of the nucleosome (pdb:1aoi) where the eight histone proteins are coloured in pale green while the DNA is multi-coloured. One of the amino acids on the tail of histone H3 that can be modified by methylation is indicated in blue.