FY2014 Annual Report

Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit

Professor (Adjunct) Nicholas M. Luscombe

Abstract

Cellular life must recognise and respond appropriately to diverse internal and external stimuli. By ensuring the correct expression of specific genes at the appropriate times, the transcriptional regulatory system plays a central role in controlling many biological processes: these range from cell cycle progression and maintenance of intracellular metabolic and physiological balance, to cellular differentiation and developmental time-courses. Numerous diseases result from a breakdown in the regulatory system and a third of human developmental disorders have been attributed to dysfunctional transcription factors (TFs). Furthermore, alterations in the activity and regulatory specificity of TFs are now established as major sources for species diversity and evolutionary adaptation. Indeed, increased sophistication of the regulatory system appears to have been a principal requirement for the emergence of metazoan life.

Our research is dedicated to understanding on a genomic scale: (i) how transcription is regulated and (ii) how this regulatory system controls biologically interesting phenomena. Much of our work until now has been purely computational, either analysing publicly available data or in collaboration with experimental laboratories performing functional genomic investigations.

1. Staff

• Nicholas Luscombe,Professor
• Garth Ilsley, Research Scientist
• Takeshi Noda, Postdoc
• Ritsuko Suyama,Staff Scientist
• Sachiko Blanck, Research Administrator

2. Collaborations

• Theme: Single cell analysis of transcriptional regulation in developing chordate embryos
• Type of collaboration: Joint research
• Researchers: Professor, Nori Satoh, OIST Graduate University

3. Publications

3.1 Journals

3.2 Books and other one-time publications

3.3 Oral and Poster Presentations

4. Intellectual Property Rights and Other Specific Achievements

Nothing to report

5. Meetings and Events

5.1 Hands-on Training at OIST: Practical workshop on High-Throughput Sequencing data Analysis 2014

• -Benilton Carvalho, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
• -Nicolas Delhomme, Umeå University, Sweden
• -Alistair Forrest, RIKEN Center for Life Sciences Technologies,
• -Hiroko Ohmiya, RIKEN Advanced Center for Computing and Communication,
• -Anna Poetsch, Cancer Research UK, UK
• -Bastian Schiffthaler, Umeå University, Sweden
• -Alessandra Vigilante, University College London, UK 

6. Other

Nothing to report.