Project description
Metabolic signals and gene regulation
Genes are turned on or off by chemical tags on proteins called histones, which are tightly wrapped around DNA. According to recent research, the cell’s metabolic activity directly produces two types of tags: butyrylation and propionylation. However, it remains unclear how these work together within individual cells to control gene activity. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Acyl-STEP-seq project will produce the first comprehensive map of these chemical tags in single cells, revealing how they collectively regulate gene expression. Project findings will shed new light on how gene regulation in health and disease is directly influenced by the body’s metabolism.
Objective
Regulation of transcription is orchestrated by a complex combination of histone posttranslational modifications (PTMs), but how their co-occurrence in the same cell regulate gene expression is still poorly understood. Recently, novel histone acylations have been identified, namely propionylation (pr) and butyrylation (bu). They co-exist with acetylation (ac), arise from cellular metabolism, and are key candidates to fine-tune chromatin activity and transcription. This project will answer fundamental questions on the role of acylations in gene regulation and their co-occurrence in single cells, and provide novel insights into metabolic disorders (propionic acidemia; PA), where histone acylations are altered.
Through this project, I will generate the first genome-wide histone acylation map in single cells, functionally link their co-occurrence with gene expression, and establish the impact of a metabolic disease on histone acylations and transcription. Our preliminary data showed that histone H4K16ac/pr/bu play key roles in chromatin activity and could thus regulate transcription, and are impaired in livers of a PA mouse model. I hypothesize that acylations co-occurrence will regulate transcription, and altered propionyl-CoA metabolism in PA will impact H4K16 acylations, and consequently transcription.
To achieve this, I will develop an experimental and computational framework for single-cell Simultaneous Transcriptome and Epigenome Profiling (sc-STEP-seq). With this approach, I will map H4K16ac/pr/bu and the transcriptome in single-cells, and integrate epigenomic and transcriptomic changes, in liver samples from PA mice. This interdisciplinary project will address a fundamental question in epigenetics: the functional relevance of histone PTMs regulated by metabolic state in single cells, advance the technology for single-cell multimodal epigenomic profiling, and provide for the first-time molecular understanding of histone acylations in a clinically relevant model.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering amorphous solids amorphous semiconductors
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA transcriptomes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics epigenetics epigenomes
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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85764 Neuherberg
Germany
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