Last month we enjoyed a joint lab retreat with the group of Alexander Stark (IMP Vienna). Because of the pandemic this had to be a virtual event, but happening in zoomland the two labs engaged in two days of fruitful and lively scientific discussion, sharing ideas and suggestions. We very much looking forward to see where these exciting projects will go, thank you to Alex and all his group for the chance to get to know each other and share each others vision and ideas!
Mario's paper out in Nature Genetics
Our latest study on dynamics of remodeler activity is out in Nature Genetics. We use inhibition of SWI/SNF by a small molecule in mouse embryonic stem cells to study dynamics of chromatin opening, nucleosome remodeling and remodeler-mediated binding of transcription factors. This was a rewarding and fruitful collaboration with NIBR colleagues, highlighting how chemical inhibition can shed light on chromatin regulation.
Press release: https://www.fmi.ch/news-events/articles/news.html?news=490
Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-020-00768-w
Artwork by SciArtWork (sciartwork.com).
Welcome Murat!
A big welcome to the latest addition to the group Murat Iskar. Murat joins from the Peter Lichter’s group at DKFZ in Heidelberg and he is an expert in computational biology. We look forward to his contributions to the group!
Welcome Fumiya!
Fumiya is a final-year medical student at Kyoto University, he joins us for an internship and he will be with us for about two months, working with Luke on transcription factors interactions with chromatin. Welcome!
Welcome Noa!
After some pandemic-related inconveniences, we are very extremely happy to finally welcome Noa Gil to our group! Noa joins us from the Ulitsky lab at the Weizmann Institute, where she recently completed her PhD.
Paul, Dimos and Angelica's paper out in Nature Communications
Our latest study on site-specific turnover of DNA methylation is finally out!
Press release: https://www.fmi.ch/news-events/articles/news.html?news=456
Link to paper (open access): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16354-x
Alicia, Ralph and Luke's paper out in Science
Fantastic collaboration between our lab and the one of Nico Thomä bridges structural biology and functional genomics to gain insights into how transcription factors engage with DNA when wrapped around a nucleosome. Paper can be found here: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/22/science.abb0074
Dirk appointed as new FMI Director
Press release from FMI here: https://www.fmi.ch/news-events/articles/news.html?news=450
Welcome Francesca!
A big and warm welcome to our new PhD student Francesca Masoni. Francesca got her Biology Bachelor’s and her Molecular Biology and Genetics Master’s degree in Pavia. We are looking forward to all the exciting science!
Marlena wins BIF studentship
Congratulations to our PhD student Marlena Lübke for being awarded a prestigious Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds fellowship ( https://www.bifonds.de/fellowships-grants/phd-fellowships.html )! The Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds is a foundation that promotes basic research in biomedicine. Her project will investigate the regulators of promoter activity that act via CpG density.