Project description
The role of 3D genome organisation in cell identity formation
Cells have over 2 000 identities maintained by ‘epigenetic memory’. Loss of this stability is linked to ageing and diseases such as cancer. While we understand some processes, the mechanisms underlying long-term memory formation and deterioration remain unclear. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the 3DCellID project explores the establishment and degradation of 3D epigenetic memory using polymer physics and active matter theory. It will examine the role of genome anchoring to the nuclear lamina and develop models to understand its impact on genome organisation and ageing. Additionally, the project will investigate how 3D genome structure and chromatin marks contribute to cellular memory. The findings will clarify how these factors shape and alter cellular identity.
Objective
"Through development cells establish distinct identities, i.e. stable cellular states, with over 2,000 such cellular states in human. Cells can maintain their identity for decades and through cell divisions, a phenomenon known as ""epigenetic memory”. Loss of this stability is a hallmark of aging and diseases, including cancer. While much has been learned about the individual molecular processes contributing to cellular memory, it remains unclear how these dynamic processes work together on a cell scale, yielding a long-term memory of cell identity. 3D genome organization is now emerging as a leading factor in the establishment and maintenance of epigenetic memory, with a potential to integrate many individual processes. Yet how memory is established through cellular experiences, and how it deteriorates in aging and disease remain largely unknown. 3DCellID will use approaches from polymer physics and active matter theory to unravel the principles of the establishment of 3D epigenetic memory, and its deterioration.
First, we will investigate the role of genome “anchoring” to the nuclear lamina. Loss of such anchoring is associated with accelerated ageing, progeria syndrome. Working in a world-leading 3D genomics group, I will develop generic physical models to illuminate how interactions with the lamina shape genome organization to yield robust epigenetic memory. I will then validate those models against existing and emerging experimental data for progeria as well as for normally aging cells.
Second, we will focus on the establishment of epigenetic memory through cellular learning. To address this I will investigate how the interplay of 3D genome organization and multiple chromatin marks can give a cell an associative memory of past cell states and experiences.
Taken together, 3DCellID will yield mechanistic insight into how 3D genome folding interacts with dynamic epigenetic patterns to establish, maintain and eventually dismantle cellular identity.
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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.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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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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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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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75231 Paris
France
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