Research interests
Early embryonic development is accompanied by rapid and dynamic changes in epigenetic as well as metabolic states. Amongst the epigenetic modifiers, MOF is responsible for the acetylation of histone 4 at lysine 16 (H4K16ac), the only known acetylation mark to be intergenerationally maintained. MOF forms the catalytic core of the NSL and the MSL complex. As a part of the NSL complex, MOF has been implicated in controlling expression of developmental genes and is critical in regulating mitochondrial respiration and cristae shape. MOF deletion is embryonically lethal and de novo mutations in MOF can give rise to metabolic defects. In accordance with these findings, my PhD project aims to investigate the role of MOF and the NSL complex in regulating embryogenesis, primarily focusing on the crosstalk between epigenetics and metabolism in driving mammalian preimplantation embryo development.
