Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt

Projects of 2020

Cell-size-dependent regulation of chromatin in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Size is a fundamental cellular property that is not only tightly linked to cell function and growth, but also sets the scale of all intracellular processes. Studying cell-size dependent regulation of chromatin-related processes in traditional model systems such as yeast or cell culture is complicated... Read more

Keywords: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, chromatin organization, development, cell size, proteome, quantitative fluorescence microscopy

Main Supervisor: Dr. Kurt Schmoller
Group: Cell and Organelle Size Control
Institute: Institute of Functional Epigenetics

Collaborating supervisor: Prof. Nick Colegrave
Group: Colegrave Group, Unitversity of Edinburgh

Statistical methods for 3D spatial reconstruction of omic profiles

Omics data have opened new frontiers in the molecular description and understanding of how cells work. Nowadays, it is possible to probe gene activity, DNA accessibility and other molecular phenotypes with a single-cell resolution. However, spatial information...Read more

Keywords: spatial omics, mouse tissues, compotational models, developmentof statistical methods, Bayesian models, 

Supervisor: Dr. Antonio Scialdone
Group: Physics and data-based modelling of cellular decision making
Institute: Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells

Collaborating supervisor: Catalina Vallejos
Group: Vallejos Group: Biomedical Data Science
Institute: MRC Human Genetics Unit

 

Decoding genomic signatures of metabolic reprogramming in diabetes and obesity

Excess of food intake is the leading cause of metabolic disease. Over-nutrition alters those metabolic programs required to maintain energy balance, by affecting nutrient and hormonal signaling. Crucial to this adaptation is the remodeling of target gene expression. The transcriptional control of metabolic homeostasis... Read More

Keywords: metabolic disease, over-nutrition, metabolic homeostasis, Next-generation  sequencing, computational biology

Supervisors: Prof. Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut & Dr. Fabiana Quagliarini
Group: Division Molecular Endocrinology
Institute: Institute of Diabetes and EndocrinologyTUM school of Lifesciences

Collaborating supervisor: Prof. Chris Ponting
Group: Chris Ponting Research Group: Computational and Disease Genomics
Institute: MRC Human Genetics Unit

Redox-regulation of epigenetic mechanisms in response to future climate conditions

Global temperatures and harmful atmospheric gases will continue to rise in the decades to come and adversely affect plant physiology. Plants are inducing mechanisms, which helps them to cope with such stressful environmental conditions. The response includes initiation of redox-signaling, epigenetic processes (e. g. histone modifications and DNA-methylation) and transcriptional reprogramming. Despite the recognized importance of cellular redox-mechanisms, the identity... Read more

Keywords: plant physiology, redox-signaling and epigenetic functions, climate change, DNA methylation, histone modifications

Supervisor: Dr. Christian Lindermayr
Group: Redox-Signaling and Chromatin Modulation
Institute: Institute of Lung Health and Immunity

Collaborating supervisors: Prof. Steven Spoel & Prof. Gary Loake
Groups: Spoel Research Group & Loake Lab
Institute:  Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences

Deciphering the function of novel histone modifications

Covalent modifications of histones can regulate all DNA dependent processes such as transcription, replication, DNA repair etc. Our aim is to unravel how histone modifications in the core of the nucleosome regulate cellular functions, development and their deregulation in diseases such as cancer or diabetes... Read more

Keywords: Histone modifications, 4D Chromatin organization, ES cells, Human cancer cell lines, Chromatin biochemistry

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Robert Schneider
Group: Chromatin Dynamics and Epigenetics
Institute: Institute of Functional Epigenetics

Collaborating supervisor: Prof. Wendy Bickmore
Group: Wendy Bickmore Research Group: Spatial Organisation of the Human Genome
Institute: MRC Human Genetics Unit