Internal Research Groups
Chromosome and Gene Expression (CGE)
Investigates the mechanisms through which the information encoded in the genome is expressed into appropriately regulated RNA and protein products.
PROFESSOR WENDY
BICKMORE
Head of Chromosomes
and Gene Expression
Our Work
The work of the groups in CGE extends; from the investigation of how nuclear organization, chromatin structure and epigenetic mechanisms control the transcription of genes into RNA, through to the study of how RNAs are processed, and finally to exploring how protein translation is regulated and the post-translational modification of proteins.
A special focus is on the regulation of gene expression in the germ-line and in embryonic stem cells. the cells important in transmitting genomic information from one generation to the next. Very recent work from the section has shown that the spatial organization of human genes within the cell nucleus has a direct effect on expression and so has revealed a new dimension of gene regulation. Not all RNAs code for proteins, some function at the level of gene regulation or protein translation. One exciting class of such regulatory RNAs is the micro- or miRNAs.
These small miRNAs are themselves generated by the processing of much larger RNAs. Recent work from the Caceres lab has uncovered a new mechanism that regulates this. Not all RNA expression is desirable. The mammalian genome harbors the evolutionary relics of past infection by retroviruses. Expression from these endogenous retroviruses can be deleterious and so is usually silenced. The Adams lab has now shown that a protein, Tex19, is required to prevent the activation of endogenous retroviruses in the germline and so may be important in maintaining the stability of the genome between successive generations.
These examples serve to illustrate that, it is only through knowing how mechanisms of gene and genome regulation work during normal development that we can begin to understand how they go awry in disease.