Disciplines | Cell Biology, Bioinformatics, Imaging |
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Research fields |
Functional Genomics, Genome Dynamics, Confocal Microscopy, Genetic Networks |
Supporting organisms | ENS Lyon |
Geographical location | Lyon, France |
Lab | Muscle Nuclear Architecture Team |
Team leader | Alexandre MEJAT |
Webpage |
http://www.lmna.fr |
Eukaryotic genomes must accommodate two diametrically opposite requirements: on the one hand, the compaction of ~2 m of genomic DNA into a sphere with a diameter of ~10 µm and, on the other hand, the accessibility of DNA to a wide variety of molecular machines involved in DNA replication, transcription, recombination and repair. Three-dimensional nuclear organization is therefore clearly critical for cellular functions. The nuclear architecture in a differentiated cell results from several factors such as the linear sequence of a gene; long distance interactions between coregulated genes; epigenetic modifications altering DNA (methylation) or histone tails (acetylation, methylation, etc); and interactions between the genome and nuclear envelope components or proteinaceous nuclear sub-compartments. However, the complex interplay between them is not yet elucidated.The muscle fibre is an ideal model to probe how cellular function is linked to nuclear architecture.
Our team aims to address how genome organization changes during muscle differentiation and how these changes affect genome function.