Epigenetics & Nuclear Dynamics

Epigenetic regulation allows genes to be activated or shut down without changing the DNA sequence. This enables different cells with the same genome to express different genes and is essential for differentiation and development. Epigenetic regulation involves mechanisms that affect chromatin and nucleic acid modifications, non-coding RNA, or the position of genes in the nucleus, to name a few. Epigenetic dysregulation is a common hallmark of cancer and is linked to ageing. We seek to understand development, behaviour, ageing and disease by studying the epigenetic mechanisms underlying these biological processes.

Keywords: DNA methylation, histone modifications, nuclear organisation, transposon, piRNA, siRNA, small non-coding RNA, RNA splicing, post-transcriptional regulation, protein homeostasis, protein degradation, RNA modification

Key techniques used: Next-generation sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), bioinformatics, proteomics, microfluidics, cell culture, genetic crosses (complementation), biochemistry, (super-resolution) microscopy, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy

IPP Groups in Epigenetics & Nuclear Dynamics:

InstituteGroupDescription
Anton Khmelinskii

Proteome organisation & dynamics

Beat Lutz

Epigenetic mechanisms controlling learning and memory, anxiety and stress coping

Benedikt Berninger

Lineage reprogramming glia into neurons

Carsten Deppermann
Christof Niehrs

DNA demethylation, reprogramming and differentiation

Daniela Kramer

Regulation of pro-inflammatory gene expression in autoinflammatory diseases, infections and cancer

Dorothee Dormann

Molecular mechanisms of RNA-binding protein dysfunction in neurodegenerative dieseases

Edward Lemke

Synthetic biophysics of protein disorder

Eva Wolf

Circadian clocks as gene regulatory systems

Joan Barau

Genetic and epigenetic regulation of development of the mammalian germline

Nard Kubben

Biology of ageing & ageing-related diseases

Peter Baumann

Telomere biology and chromosomal inheritance

Philipp Wild

Systems Medicine approaches to Age-related Diseases in Humans

René Ketting

Genetic and molecular dissection of RNAi induced heterochromatin

Roland Strauss

Gene regulation and epigenetics of a lifetime body‐size memory in Drosophila

Sandra Schick

Genome regulation by chromatin remodelling during development and disease

Susann Schweiger

Genetic Diseases of the Central Nervous System