Fernandez-Capetillo Lab Profile

Research Focus: Understanding the influence of chromatin dynamics on the repair and signalling of DNA breaks

With the availability of the essentially complete sequence of the human genome, the technical efforts to understand genetics and disease from a cis standpoint will soon reach their endpoint. However, our emerging knowledge of gene regulation networks reveals that epigenetic regulation of the hereditary information plays crucial roles in various biological events through its influences on processes such as transcription, DNA replication and chromosome architecture. Another scenario in which the control of chromatin structure is crucial is in the repair of lesions in genomic DNA. There is mounting evidence, particularly from model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, that histone modifying enzymes (acetylases, deacetylases, kinases …) are essential components of the machinery that maintains genome integrity and thereby guards against cancer, degenerative diseases and ageing. However, little is known about the specific "code" of histone tail modifications that coordinate DNA repair, and the impact that an aberrant "histone code" may have on human health. By combining Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and finally the testing the physiological relevance of putative components by the development of mouse models our group tries to understand the impact that defects aberrant chromatin regulation might have in the responses to DNA damage.