Introduction

Research Groups

Select Research Group Head Prof. Sir Tom Blundell Prof. Kevin Brindle Dr Bill Broadhurst Dr Guy Brown Dr Mark Carrington Prof. Paul Dupree Prof. Gerard Evan - Head of Dept Prof. Richard Farndale Dr Giorgio Favrin Dr Jenny Gallop Dr Nick Gay Dr Andrew Grace Dr Jules Griffin Dr Brian Hendrich Dr Andrew Hesketh Dr Robin Hesketh Dr Matt Higgins Dr Florian Hollfelder Dr Hee-Jeon Hong Prof. Chris Howe Dr Marko Hyvonen Prof. Steve Jackson Dr Tony Jackson Prof. Richard Jackson Prof. Ernest Laue Prof. Peter Leadlay Dr Kathryn Lilley Dr Karen Lipkow Dr Rick Livesey Prof. Ben Luisi Dr Sarah Lummis Dr Juan Mata Dr John McCafferty Prof. Jim Metcalfe Dr Masanori Mishima Dr Eric Miska Dr Tom Monie Dr Helen Mott Dr Natasha Murzina Dr Daniel Nietlispach Dr Darerca Owen Prof. Steve Oliver Dr Luca Pellegrini Dr Markus Ralser Dr Nick Robinson Prof. George Salmond Dr Deirdre Scadden Dr José Silva Prof. Austin Smith Prof. Chris Smith Dr Nancy Standart Prof. Dame Jean Thomas Dr Aviva Tolkovsky Dr Martin Welch Dr Joyce Wong Dr Nianshu Zhang

Service & Research Support Facilities

Select by Subject or Manager DNA Sequencing Facility . . . . . Mr John Lester _______________________________ Quantitative Proteomics . . . . . Dr Kathryn Lilley _______________________________ Proteomics Core Services . . . . . Dr Mike Deery _______________________________ Protein & Nucleic Acid Chemistry . . . . . Dr Len Packman _______________________________ Metabolomics . . . . . Dr Jules Griffin _______________________________ Baculovirus Facility . . . . . Dr Darerca Owen _______________________________ Biophysics Facility . . . . . Dr Katherine Stott _______________________________ Crystallographic X-ray Facility . . . . . Dr Dima Chirgadze _______________________________ NMR spectroscopy . . . . . Dr Daniel Nietlispach _______________________________ Fermentation Facility . . . . . Dr Nianshu Zhang _______________________________ Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Services . . . . . Dr Jenny Barna _______________________________ Computer & IT Support . . . . . Dr Erik Timmers _______________________________

Past members last known active weblink

Select past member of Department Dr Stephen Bell Prof. Jonathan Blackburn Dr David Brown Dr Pak-Lee Chau Dr Hal Dixon (deceased) Dr Jessica Downs Prof. David Ellar Dr Paul Kemp Dr Simon Lovell Dr Kenji Mizuguchi Dr Massimo Paoli Prof. Richard Perham Dr Peter Reynolds Dr Philip Rubery Dr Gerry Smith Dr Margaret Sunde Prof. Jamie Vandenberg Dr Kira Weissman

Reset Menus

Chromatin and Gene Regulatory Proteins

Research Grouping: Structural and molecular cell biology

We are interested in chromatin structure and its role in the repression and activation of genes; in the modulation of chromatin structure and function by relatively abundant accessory proteins; and in the structures of relevant protein-DNA complexes. We adopt a multidisciplinary approach (molecular biology, protein chemistry, NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical methods).

Particular areas of study include:

The unusual, extra, ‘intrinsically unstructured’ GII domain of the yeast linker histone Hho1p folds, in 250 mM sodium phosphate, into a structure very similar to that of the stably folded homologous GI domain. Structures determined by NMR spectroscopy (Ali et al., 2004).

The fundamental level of chromatin structure, the nucleosome filament, and its folding into higher-order structure. We are especially interested in the interactions of histone H1, which plays a structural role and may also be involved in regulation of the activity of certain genes. An intriguing and distinctive candidate H1 (Hho1p) in yeast which was revealed by the genome sequence is under active investigation (Ali et al., 2004).

An architectural and chaperone role for HMGB1 (green) in facilitation of transcription factor binding (left fork) and assembly of nucleoprotein complexes (right fork) (Thomas and Travers, 2001).

The abundant chromosomal proteins HMGB1 and 2 (high-mobility group proteins 1 and 2), which bend linear DNA and bind preferentially to bent and distorted DNA through their “HMG boxes” (Thomas and Travers, 2001). We are currently investigating, inter alia, the means by which these “architectural proteins” facilitate the assembly of nucleoprotein complexes containing sequence-specific proteins; the interaction of tandem “HMG boxes” with DNA; and the interaction of HMGB1 with chromatin.

The relationship between DNA methylation and repressed chromatin, and in particular the role and interactions of the methyl cytosine binding protein MeCP2, which has distinct methyl CpG-binding and transcriptional repression domains, as well as other regions of unknown function.

Lab members
Laura Cato, Jenifer Clark, Frederick Northrop, Lara Osmotherly, Alexandria Richart, John Rowell, Katherine Stott

References