Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a rare congenital malformation disorder. About half of the patients with CdLS carry mutations in the NIPBL gene encoding the NIPBL protein, a subunit of the Cohesin loading complex. Recent studies show association of Cohesin with chromatin-remodeling complexes, either by establishing cohesion or by recruiting Cohesin to specific chromosome locations. In yeas...

Histone post-translational modification, mediated by histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases, is one of the most studied factors affecting gene expression. Recent data showing differential histone acetylation states during the Trypanosoma cruzi cell cycle suggest a role for epigenetics in the control of this process. As a starting point to study the role of histone deacetylases in the contr...

We have started to identify and characterise the histone deacetylases of Drosophila melanogaster. Based on their homology with the mammalian enzymes three potential histone deacetylases have been identified. Two of these, dHDACl and dHDAC3 are class I deacetylases (related to yeast Rpd3), whilst the third, dHDAC6 is a class I1 deacetylase (related to yeast Hdal). In addition, we have shown that...

Epigenetic alterations, including DNA acetylation, hypermethylation and hypomethylation, and the associated transcriptional changes of the affected genes are central to the evolution and progression of various human cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Cancer-associated epigenetic alterations are attractive therapeutic targets because such epigenetic alterations, unlike genetic changes, are po...

Papillomavirus genomes replicate as nuclear plasmids at a low copy number in undifferentiated keratinocytes. Papillomaviruses encode the E1 and E2 proteins that bind to the origin of replication and are required for the activation of replication. In addition to E2, several papillomaviruses express an E8-E2C protein, which is generated by alternative splicing and functions as a transcriptional r...

DNA-binding activators and repressors recruit histone acetylases and deacetylases to promoters, thereby generating localized domains of modified histones that influence transcriptional activity. At the end of a transcriptional response, alterations in histone acetylation status are reversed, but the dynamics of this process are poorly understood. Here, we recruit histone deacetylases and acetyl...