Research Group: Computational Biology – Chromatin structures reflecting cellular states
Post-zygotic mutations and epigenetic profiles condition cellular behavior. In particular, patient response to treatment is somehow narrowed by the accumulated modifications. However, they change over the course of life, and personalized approach is needed to determine the patient response to treatment. Our group is interested in cellular responses to environmental stimulations in the context of their genetic, epigenetic, and environmental background. We use single-cell and spatial methods to study cell transitions, cell-cell communications, and chromatin transformations, particularly in cancer cells to provide diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. Our key focus is using of computational and experimental approaches to dissect, model, and interrogate changes in chromatin structure and gene expression regulations triggered by genetic modifications and/or extracellular stimulations. We pursue multi-disciplinary projects aiming to uncover patterns in chromatin and gene expression profiles relating to the cell state.
Projects in progress:
- The role and physical properties of the 3-dimensional chromatin structure in the differentiation of hematopoietic cells in response to irradiation
- Developing in-vitro microtumors to provide physiological tool for breast cancer studies
- Study of changes in epigenetic modifications triggered by outer space radiation
- Spatial transcriptomics of human brain to find structures characteristic for neurodegenerative disorders
- Spatial gene expression analysis of FFPE breast cancer undercovers potential of well-preserved samples to identify regulatory cascades and cellular context
- Study of MHCII expression levels in triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) and the corresponding impact on immune evasion
- Gene expression regulation conditioned by alteration in chromatin remodelers based on single cell gene expression profiles
- Analysis of the relationship between LOY, DNA methylation changes (in CpG dinucleotides), as well as gene expression in granulocytes and monocytes from Alzheimer patients