Research interests
All multicellular organisms rely on the maintenance of organized cell states, both during development anß in the adult (steady) state. To preserve these identities during cell division, it is essential that both daughter cells inherit not only a genetically identical set of DNA, but also the proper chromatin landscape that defines their cellular state. As the propagation of the epigenome during DNA replication faces many challenges, a group of proteins known as histone chaperones step in to guide the recycling and de novo deposition of histones and their modifications, thereby maintaining chromatin integrity and epigenetic information. Working with mouse embryonic stem cells, 1 study these fascinating proteins that mediate the recycling, nuclear import, and de novo deposition df H2A-H2B histones. Since the epigenetic landscape changes during differentiation, 1 aim to understand whether histone chaperones not only preserve the existing chromatin state, but can also actively promote organized changes that drive cell state transitions and influence· cell fate.
