Laboratory Nicola Iovino
Chromatin regulation in early embryo
Fertilisation and early embryogenesis are the foundations of life. Despite much progress in developmental biology, it remains unclear i) how terminally differentiated gametes are reprogrammed to totipotency ii) what is the content and extent of epigenetic information carried from the gametes to the next generation iii) how the de-novo epigenome is established in the early embryo.
Goals
The goal of the lab is to break new ground by unravelling the mechanisms that regulate (i) epigenetic reprogramming of gametes, (ii) germline epigenetic inheritance, and (iii) de novo establishment of epigenetic memory. We use Drosophila early embryo as a model system.
Impact
These mechanisms are evolutionarily conserved, thus our discoveries will open the way for translational research and novel studies of early embryogenesis that could be applied to vertebrate models.
Selected Publications
1.
Cardamone F*, Piva A*, Löser E, Eichenberger B, Romero-Mulero MC, Zenk F, Shields EJ, Cabezas-Wallscheid N, Bonasio R, Tiana G, Zhan Y#, Iovino N# (2025).
Chromatin landscape at cis-regulatory elements orchestrates cell fate decisions in early embryogenesis.
Nature Communications 16, 3007.
* Contributed equally
# Corresponding authors
2.
Atinbayeva N, Valent I, Zenk F, Loeser E, Rauer M, Herur S, Quarato P, Pyrowolakis G, Gomez-Auli A, Mittler G, Cecere G, Erhardt S, Tiana G, Zhan Y, Iovino N (2024)
Inheritance of H3K9 methylation regulates genome architecture in Drosophila early embryos.
The EMBO Journal 43(13), 2685-2714.
3.
Ciabrelli F, Rabbani L, Cardamone F, Zenk F, Löser E, Schächtle MA, Mazina M, Loubiere V, Iovino N (2023)
CBP and Gcn5 drive zygotic genome activation independently of their catalytic activity.
Science Advances 9(16), eadf2687.
4.
Ibarra-Morales D, Rauer M, Quarato P, Rabbani L, Zenk F, Schulte-Sasse M, Cardamone F, Gomez-Auli A, Cecere G & Iovino N (2021)
Histone variant H2A.Z regulates zygotic genome activation
Nature Communications, 12: 7002.
5.
Zenk F, Zhan Y, Kos P, Löser E, Atinbayeva N, Schächtle M, Tiana G, Giorgetti L, Iovino N (2021)
HP1 drives de novo 3D genome reorganization in early Drosophila embryos
Nature 593, 289-293.
6.
Zenk F, Loeser E, Schiavo R, Kilpert F, Bogdanović O, Iovino N (2017)
Germ line–inherited H3K27me3 restricts enhancer function during maternal-to-zygotic transition.
Science 357 (6347), 212-216.
More publications
