Research Biographies

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DR ALEXANDER KAGANSKY

Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Chancellor's Fellow


Sasha Kagansky

Contact Details

E-mail address: alexander.kagansky@ed.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)131 651 1080
Fax: +44 (0)131 467 8456
Address: MRC Human Genetics Unit MRC IGMM, University of Edinburgh Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Research Programme: Synthetic Epigenetics and Chromatin Transitions

 

Research Areas

One of the most fundamental problems in modern biology is to determine mechanisms that underlie changes in genome regulation at the level of chromatin structure, as it defines gene expression and chromosome function and is linked to cancer, differentiation, ageing, and brain function. To address that, we must understand what changes occur upon the transformation between active and repressed chromatin states. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms and role of such transitions in mammalian cells. To achieve this, we induce targeted chromatin changes using locus-specific targeting of chromatin modifiers. We also develop new chemical approaches to changing the chromatin structure.


Key/Selected Publications

  • Bergmann JH, Jakubsche JN, Martins NM, Kagansky A, Nakano M, Kimura H, Kelly DA, Turner BM, Masumoto H, Larionov V, Earnshaw WC.
    Epigenetic engineering: histone H3K9 acetylation is compatible with kinetochore structure and function.J Cell Sci. 2012 Jan 15;125(Pt 2):411-21. Epub 2012 Feb 13.
    PMID: 22331359
  • Bayne EH, White SA, Kagansky A, Bijos DA, Sanchez-Pulido L, Hoe KL, Kim DU, Park HO, Ponting CP, Rappsilber J, Allshire RC.
    Stc1: a critical link between RNAi and chromatin modification required for heterochromatin integrity.Cell. 2010 Mar 5;140(5):666-77.
    PMID: 20211136
  • Kagansky A, Folco HD, Almeida R, Pidoux AL, Boukaba A, Simmer F, Urano T, Hamilton GL, Allshire RC.
    Synthetic heterochromatin bypasses RNAi and centromeric repeats to establish functional centromeres.
    Science. 2009 Jun 26;324(5935):1716-9.
    PMID: 19556509
  • Pidoux AL, Choi ES, Abbott JK, Liu X, Kagansky A, Castillo AG, Hamilton GL, Richardson W, Rappsilber J, He X, Allshire RC.
    Fission yeast Scm3: A CENP-A receptor required for integrity of subkinetochore chromatin.
    Mol Cell. 2009 Feb 13;33(3):299-311.
    PMID: 19217404
  • Bayne EH, Portoso M, Kagansky A, Kos-Braun IC, Urano T, Ekwall K, Alves F, Rappsilber J, Allshire RC.
    Splicing factors facilitate RNAi-directed silencing in fission yeast.
    Science. 2008 Oct 24;322(5901):602-6.
    PMID: 18948543
  • Kagansky A, Freeman L, Lukyanov D, Strunnikov A.
    Histone tail-independent chromatin binding activity of recombinant cohesin holocomplex.
    J Biol Chem. 2004 Jan 30;279(5):3382-8. Epub 2003 Nov 12.
    PMID: 14613943