The Laboratory

Epigenetic regulation of chromatin structure

In all eukaryotes, the large genomes are organized and compacted in the form of chromatin. As the basic unit of chromatin, the nucleosome is formed by tightly wrapping ~147 bp DNA around a histone octamer The composition of the eukaryotic nucleosome is variable with respect to DNA sequence, DNA modifications, histone variants and histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), which makes nucleosomes the epigenetic hubs of the genome. These epigenetic marks do not only modulate nucleosome structure and dynamics, but also recruit different binding factors to further regulate chromatin structure. Processes that take place on DNA such as DNA replication, DNA repair and RNA transcription are profoundly regulated by the nucleosome and its associated partners. The Zhou group focuses on the structural basis in the recognitions of epigenetic markers by chromatin factors, and their impacts on chromatin structure during RNA transcription, DNA replication and repair.